b'Case Study ADVANCED ANTIMICROBIAL SURFACE TESTINGSupporting academic and industrial partnerships to tackle global biofilm problemsWirral SME, SafeClimb designs, manufactures and maintains height safety equipment, including safety ropes and harnesses, for industrial and leisure markets worldwide. Due to enhanced cleaning regimens adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic, including multi-surface sanitising products being used by organisations globally, SafeClimb wanted to check that their customers use of these antimicrobial products would not impact the integrity of their products.The company wanted to ensure that the continued use of antimicrobial products transferred by intensive cleaning and sanitation routines, were not damaging products, such as its safety ropes. Medium magnification SEM images of harness samples: NBICs Open Innovation Hub for Antimicrobial Surfaces(a) and (b) untreated; (c) and at the University of Liverpool and iiCON: Infection(d) treated.Innovation Consortium and have been working in collaboration with SafeClimb to support the companyProfessor Rasmita Raval, NBIC Liverpool Co-Director with advanced antimicrobial surface testing.and Director of the Open Innovation Hub for Antimicrobial Surfaces said,NBIC Interdisciplinary Research Fellow, Dr Jiaqi Luo, at NBICs Open Innovation Hub for Antimicrobial Surfaces,Were delighted to have been able to support designed a work package to visually analyse a numberSafeClimb with advanced surface examination of their of products and materials before and after dailysafety harnesses and productssanitisation. Electron microscopy and Energy DispersiveThrough iiCONs fully-funded Merseyside SME Support X-Ray Spectroscopy were used to evaluate the materialProgramme, SMEs like SafeClimb are able to access at a sub-micron level to visualise the materials andadvanced surface analysis capability at NBICs Open check for signs of degradation. Liza Collard, ManagingInnovation Hub for Antimicrobial Surfaces. This can Director of SafeClimb said, be of real benefit to companies that may be struggling Its been fantastic to have worked with iiCON to accesswith testing requirements that are beyond their day-to-the world-leading surface analysis expertise at NBICsday capability.Open Innovation Hub for Antimicrobial Surfaces. BeingThis project was part funded by the European Regional able to have the University of Liverpools expert teamDevelopment Fund (ERDF) programme: Formulated carry out incredibly detailed and thorough testing onMaterials for Infectious Disease Prevention. our products has been incredibly helpful.Professor Rasmita Raval isDr Jiaqi Luo is an NBIC NBIC Liverpool Co-DirectorInterdisciplinary Research Fellow, and Director of the Surfacebased the Open Innovation Hub Science Research Centre andfor Antimicrobial Surfaces at Open Innovation Hub forthe University of Liverpool. His Antimicrobial Surfaces at thecurrent research interests include University of Liverpool. Herdevelopment and characterisation research includes rationalof antimicrobial surfaces, and Professor Rasmitadesign of functional surfacesDr Jiaqi Luo investigation of biofilm and Raval and bio-interfaces.bacteria-surface interaction. 51'