Abstract: A surface treatment material useful in making coatings to be applied to fomitic surfaces to inhibit the proliferation of microorganisms, especially bacteria, comprises a photocatalytic component consisting of a metal oxide catalyst together with a metal dopant acting as an upconversion luminescence agent, for example based upon ErCl3, TiO2, Er(NO3)3/TiO2, NdCl3/TiO2, Nd(NO3)3/TiO2, GdCl3/TiO2, Gd(NO3)/TiO2, and optionally including other metals, especially a transition metal such as silver, provides antimicrobial activity in the dark, and enhanced antibacterial activity when exposed to wavelengths in the range of 350 to 790 nm, and thus finds utility in the healthcare, leisure and food industries.

Abstract: An optically detectable analytical composition comprising a rare earth dopant, a carrier incorporating the rare earth dopant, and at least one of: a chemical linker suitable to bind to a biological binding agent and a biological binding agent is disclosed. Preferred embodiments include a glass micro bead carrier treated to attach a biological binding agent such as a protein, or a nucleic acid. The binding agent can bind to a target species in a sample and thereafter be used to determine the presence, concentration or absence of the target in the sample. The composition can be used in a number of different applications, such as to perform fragment analysis of DNA. The narrow bands emitted by rare earth dopants when excited, allows for a large number of such dopants to be incorporated into an individual carrier, allowing detailed characterisation of the sample to be conducted in a reduced number of sample test runs.