Dr Sandya Athukoralalage

Sandya specialises in the development of antimicrobial surface coatings and the investigation of bacterial responses to support safe and sustainable infection prevention technologies.

Sandya's research centres on the development of functional materials for antimicrobial and low-fouling applications. She engineers surface chemistries that prevent microbial attachment and transmission, with a particular focus on creating sustainable alternatives to conventional antimicrobial technologies for healthcare and packaging applications. She completed her PhD at The University of Queensland in 2025, where she developed dual-functional cellulose coatings that integrate antimicrobial and low-fouling mechanisms within a single bio-based platform. Her work combines nanomaterials engineering, surface science, microbiology, and molecular biology to understand how microorganisms interact with engineered surfaces and how these interactions can be altered to control contamination. Her current research explores bacterial responses to antimicrobial nanocellulose coatings and the conversion of agricultural and marine biomass into value-added materials and bioactive compounds. Through this work, she seeks to improve infection prevention strategies while expanding opportunities for the utilisation of renewable biological resources.

Funding

2026: Amiralian, Athukoralalage. Marine Bioproducts CRC Project, Sustainable Valorisation of Seaweeds for High-Value Biomaterials ($280,000). 2025: Amiralian, Tronstad, Goldsworthy, Suen, Athukoralalage, Fraser, Burke, Geary. The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation Innovation Grant, Hospital Validation of a Sustainable Antimicrobial Coating ($92,543). 2025: Amiralian, Athukoralalage. Meat & Livestock Australia Innovation Challenge, CelluGuard: Bioactive Nanocoating for Sustainable Meat Packaging ($15,000). 2024: Athukoralalage. Goethe-Institut Australien Women in STEM Award, Towards Sustainable Healthcare: Antimicrobial Coatings for Biofilm Prevention on Medical Implants ($10,000).

Key Publications

Athukoralalage, S. S. A., & Amiralian, N. (2025). Dual-functional surface coatings integrating antimicrobial and antibiofouling mechanisms: From material design to application landscapes. Materials Horizons, 12, 9966-9993. https://doi.org/10.1039/D5MH01132A

Athukoralalage, S. S. A., Datson, Z., Darwish, N., Zhu, Y., Chung, K. H. K., Chew, K., Rowan, A. E., & Amiralian, N. (2025). Dual-functional antimicrobial and low-fouling cellulose coatings. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 17(10), 16027-16039. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.4c21252

Athukoralalage, S. S. A., Bell, C. A., Gemmell, A. C., Rowan, A. E., & Amiralian, N. (2023). Recent advances and future perspectives in engineering biodegradable face masks. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 11(4), 1575-1592. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2TA08019B

Rajah, D.†, Athukoralalage, S.†, Yegappan, R., & Amiralian, N. (2026). Nanocellulose coatings for surgical face masks. Nanomaterials, 16(2), 112. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano16020112

Dorishetty, P., Balu, R., Athukoralalage, S. S., Greaves, T. L., Mata, J., De Campo, L., Saha, N., Zannettino, A. C. W., Dutta, N. K., & Choudhury, N. R. (2020). Tunable biomimetic hydrogels from silk fibroin and nanocellulose. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 8(6), 2375-2389. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b05317