Light-activated antibacterial screen protectors for mobile telephones and tablet computers

Novel light-activated antibacterial screen protectors were produced from commercially available protectors by a simple dye functionalization process. The screen protectors were shown to be effective against Escherichia coli and an epidemic strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, EMRSA-16 under white light conditions. UV–vis spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that the principal light activated antimicrobial agent present was crystal violet. The antibacterial screen protectors represent a simple and inexpensive means by which microbial contamination of mobile phone and tablet computer screens may be reduced in healthcare and non-healthcare environments, where device cleaning compliance has been shown to be very low.

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