Research Article
Open Access
Contact Inactivation of Human Adenovirus Type 5 by Silicon Nitride Ceramics
1
Division of Applied Materials Science, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Uppsala University, Uppsala 751 05, Sweden
2
Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala 751 05, Sweden
3
Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Uppsala University, Uppsala 751 05, Sweden
4
School of Future Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
* Corresponding Author:
Wei Xia,
[email protected]
Volume 2, Issue 4
2026
Received: 05 July 2026
Revised: 31 August 2026
Accepted: 03 September 2026
Published: 12 September 2026
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CC BY 4.0 License
Article Information
Published in
Journal of Advanced Materials Research
Volume/Issue
Volume 2, Issue 4, 2026
Pages
274-284
Abstract
Preventing pathogen transmission and treating pathogen-associated diseases remain major public-health challenges. Recent epidemics and pandemics, key amongst them being the pandemic caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), have highlighted the devastating effects that viral infections can have on society. Uncovering and utilising materials for the protection from and treatment of virus-induced diseases can considerably alleviate the load imposed on healthcare systems worldwide. Silicon nitride is a biocompatible ceramic material used in orthopedic implants that is effective in the inactivation of single-stranded RNA viruses. However, the effect of the material on the more resilient DNA viruses remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the antiviral behaviour of the material, in powder and bulk form, against DNA viruses, and more specifically the human adenovirus. The results of the study indicated that silicon nitride dramatically reduces adenoviral infectivity in powder ($>$98% reduction in infective virus compared to the untreated control) and bulk form ($>$73% reduction in infective virus compared to the untreated control). In both cases, inactivation was achieved rapidly, in one minute for powders and 10 minutes for bulk surfaces. The findings of this study strengthen the potential of silicon nitride to be used as an antiviral agent, aiding the fight against the spread of both DNA and RNA virus diseases.
Graphical Abstract
Keywords
silicon nitride
viral inactivation
surfaces
adenovirus
Data Availability Statement
Data will be made available on request.
Funding
This work was supported by the Vinnova under Grant 2020-03099; by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No.812765; and by the Swedish Cancer Foundation under Grant 180599. The authors would also like to thank ``Wefightcovid'' (SPR) for their financial donation in support of this research.
Conflicts of Interest
Wei Xia served as an Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Advanced Materials Research at the time of manuscript submission. To ensure the integrity of the peer-review process, Wei Xia was not involved in the editorial handling, peer review, or decision-making process for this manuscript, which was handled independently by another editor. The remaining authors declare no conflicts of interest.
AI Use Statement
The authors declare that no generative AI was used in the preparation of this manuscript.
Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate
Not applicable.
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APA Style
Katsaros, I., Carlsson, A., Persson, C., Akusjärvi, G., Liu, X., Xia, W., & Engqvist, H. (2026). Contact Inactivation of Human Adenovirus Type 5 by Silicon Nitride Ceramics. Journal of Advanced Materials Research, 2(4), 274-284. https://doi.org/10.62762/JAMR.2026.813028
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TY - JOUR AU - Katsaros, Ioannis AU - Carlsson, Anette AU - Persson, Cecilia AU - Akusjärvi, Göran AU - Liu, Xiaoli AU - Xia, Wei AU - Engqvist, Håkan PY - 2026 DA - 2026/09/12 TI - Contact Inactivation of Human Adenovirus Type 5 by Silicon Nitride Ceramics JO - Journal of Advanced Materials Research T2 - Journal of Advanced Materials Research JF - Journal of Advanced Materials Research VL - 2 IS - 4 SP - 274 EP - 284 DO - 10.62762/JAMR.2026.813028 UR - https://www.icck.org/article/abs/JAMR.2026.813028 KW - silicon nitride KW - viral inactivation KW - surfaces KW - adenovirus AB - Preventing pathogen transmission and treating pathogen-associated diseases remain major public-health challenges. Recent epidemics and pandemics, key amongst them being the pandemic caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), have highlighted the devastating effects that viral infections can have on society. Uncovering and utilising materials for the protection from and treatment of virus-induced diseases can considerably alleviate the load imposed on healthcare systems worldwide. Silicon nitride is a biocompatible ceramic material used in orthopedic implants that is effective in the inactivation of single-stranded RNA viruses. However, the effect of the material on the more resilient DNA viruses remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the antiviral behaviour of the material, in powder and bulk form, against DNA viruses, and more specifically the human adenovirus. The results of the study indicated that silicon nitride dramatically reduces adenoviral infectivity in powder ($>$98% reduction in infective virus compared to the untreated control) and bulk form ($>$73% reduction in infective virus compared to the untreated control). In both cases, inactivation was achieved rapidly, in one minute for powders and 10 minutes for bulk surfaces. The findings of this study strengthen the potential of silicon nitride to be used as an antiviral agent, aiding the fight against the spread of both DNA and RNA virus diseases. SN - 3070-5851 PB - Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge LA - English ER -
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@article{Katsaros2026Contact,
author = {Ioannis Katsaros and Anette Carlsson and Cecilia Persson and Göran Akusjärvi and Xiaoli Liu and Wei Xia and Håkan Engqvist},
title = {Contact Inactivation of Human Adenovirus Type 5 by Silicon Nitride Ceramics},
journal = {Journal of Advanced Materials Research},
year = {2026},
volume = {2},
number = {4},
pages = {274-284},
doi = {10.62762/JAMR.2026.813028},
url = {https://www.icck.org/article/abs/JAMR.2026.813028},
abstract = {Preventing pathogen transmission and treating pathogen-associated diseases remain major public-health challenges. Recent epidemics and pandemics, key amongst them being the pandemic caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), have highlighted the devastating effects that viral infections can have on society. Uncovering and utilising materials for the protection from and treatment of virus-induced diseases can considerably alleviate the load imposed on healthcare systems worldwide. Silicon nitride is a biocompatible ceramic material used in orthopedic implants that is effective in the inactivation of single-stranded RNA viruses. However, the effect of the material on the more resilient DNA viruses remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the antiviral behaviour of the material, in powder and bulk form, against DNA viruses, and more specifically the human adenovirus. The results of the study indicated that silicon nitride dramatically reduces adenoviral infectivity in powder (\$>\$98\% reduction in infective virus compared to the untreated control) and bulk form (\$>\$73\% reduction in infective virus compared to the untreated control). In both cases, inactivation was achieved rapidly, in one minute for powders and 10 minutes for bulk surfaces. The findings of this study strengthen the potential of silicon nitride to be used as an antiviral agent, aiding the fight against the spread of both DNA and RNA virus diseases.},
keywords = {silicon nitride, viral inactivation, surfaces, adenovirus},
issn = {3070-5851},
publisher = {Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge}
}
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