CIDETEC Surface Engineering lays the foundations for the generation of innocuous antibacterial and antiviral surfaces

The Frontiers 2021 project will open up new R&D avenues

With the surge of interest in protection against pathogens as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant increase in the demand for antibacterial and antiviral surfaces and coatings as one of the mechanisms to prevent their spread. CIDETEC Surface Engineering is leading the ‘Frontiers 2021’ project, promoting research in this field.

The project has a twofold objective: on the one hand, to generate frontier scientific and technological knowledge in the field of surfaces and surface treatment technologies in R&D centres in the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC) for the generation of antibacterial and antiviral surfaces that are innocuous, sustainable and durable over time, for different medical and industrial applications. On the other hand, Frontiers 2021 seeks to resolve strategic challenges identified in the surfaces field, in order to establish a medium-long term vision towards innocuous, sustainable and digitalised hygienic surfaces, which will be a key factor of competitiveness in the industrial sectors driving the economy of the BAC.

In its first months of life, Frontiers 2021 is in an initial phase in which the partners are working on the development of antibacterial and antiviral surfaces, making considerable progress in the development and optimisation of methods for characterising antibacterial and antiviral capacity.

The Frontiers strategy: Multifunctional surfaces at the frontier of knowledge, aligned with the main challenges of Basque industry, was launched in 2015 and has enabled new lines and opportunities to be exploited within the Basque Science and Technology Network.

Frontiers 2021, funded by the Elkartekprogramme, began in March 2021 and involves the participation of Tekniker, Tecnalia, MTC, CIC-bioGUNE, Tecnun, Fundación Biofísica Bizkaia (FBB) and BCMaterials.