Eco-friendly and effective antimicrobial Melaleuca alternifolia essential oil Pickering emulsions stabilized with cellulose nanofibrils against bacteria and SARS-CoV-2

Melaleuca alternifolia essential oil (MaEO) is a green antimicrobial agent suitable for confection eco-friendly disinfectants to substitute conventional chemical disinfectants commonly formulated with toxic substances that cause dangerous environmental impacts. In this contribution, MaEO-in-water Pickering emulsions were successfully stabilized with cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) by a simple mixing procedure. MaEO and the emulsions presented antimicrobial activities against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli). Moreover, MaEO deactivated the SARS-CoV-2 virions immediately. FT-Raman and FTIR spectroscopies indicate that the CNF stabilizes the MaEO droplets in water by the dipole-induced-dipole interactions and hydrogen bonds. The factorial design of experiments (DoE) indicates that CNF content and mixing time have significant effects on preventing the MaEO droplets' coalescence during 30-day shelf life. The bacteria inhibition zone assays show that the most stable emulsions showed antimicrobial activity comparable to commercial disinfectant agents such as hypochlorite. The MaEO/water stabilized-CNF emulsion is a promissory natural disinfectant with antibacterial activity against these bacteria strains, including the capability to damage the spike proteins at the SARS-CoV-2 particle surface after 15 min of direct contact when the MaEO concentration is 30 % v/v.