I just read that tiny spikes of stainless steel kill bacteria [link] I think microcrystalline cellulose that is like a koosh ball will have many tiny points that kill bacteria.

This could be used in consumer products, possibly antiperspirants to kill bacteria, thus reducing odor. Another possibility is to create a chemically harmless form of wet wipes with pointy cellulose to wipe things off with.

Originally I thought that wooden cutting boards killed bacteria with microslivers but could not find a reference. I did find a reference that this works with stainless steel, so might work with microcrystalline cellulose.

If it needs to be metal, perhaps some dispersion, similar to laundry blueing (Iron), or the stainless steel equivalent of blueing could be cheap yet sufficiently pointy.

Another possibility is to make the little pointy things out of a nutrient metal like Mg or Zn besides Fe or microcrystalline cellulose. Some antiperspirants already have Al as an ingredient.
-- beanangel, Dec 31 2017

stainless steel pointiness kills bacteria https://www.science...12/171213095606.htm
researchers have created a nanotextured surface that kills bacteria while not harming mammalian cells. [beanangel, Dec 31 2017]

Laundry blueing is colloidal iron particles https://en.wikipedi...iki/Bluing_(fabric)
[beanangel, Dec 31 2017]

split washer shaped protein makes holes in bacteria http://www.diamond..../2016/eBic-MAC.html
[beanangel, Jan 07 2018]

No, I think it's just [beany].
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 07 2018



random, halfbakery