Development of durable MOF-based antimicrobial elastomeric sealant for effective microbial decontamination in building environments

초록

Elastomeric sealant is widely used in the building construction and its inevitable microbial contamination compromises the indoor environmental quality and building durability. To overcome the limited long-term performance of conventional antimicrobial sealant containing chemical inhibitor, we newly propose a functionalized sealant, incorporating a ZIF-8 based composite into a silicone matrix. This ZIF-8 based composite provides a dual-action antimicrobial mechanism: the controlled release of encapsulated propiconazole and the in-situ generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). An optimized dispersion protocol using stearic acid ensures homogeneous mixing with the commercial polymer matrix. The resulting functionalized sealant achieves the highest antifungal resistance (no growth; Grade 0) under a modified ASTM G21 standard. Crucially, a two-month field mock-up test in the office building shower room demonstrates superior antimicrobial performance, reducing bacterial colony-forming units (CFU) by over 97 % (from 143 CFU to 4 CFU) and effectively eliminating fungal growth when compared to a commercial counterpart. This study presents a practical and effective strategy for developing high-performance antimicrobial building materials with long term durability.

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