Skip to main content
European Commission logo print header

Specialty antimicrobial polymeric materials

Deliverables

Polymeric blends with antimicrobial and /or antifouling properties: active phosphonium ions containing oligomers were incorporated into different polymeric matrixes. The resulting blends exhibit pronounced antimicrobial activity. Dispersion of the active phosphonium salt containing oligomers or polymers into a polymeric matrix resulted in materials with antimicrobial activity. Polymeric matrixes such as polyethylene, polypropylene or polyamides were used. The percentage of the active compound varied between 1 to 10%. All the blends were characterized with respect to their mechanical and thermal properties. Screening of the mechanical properties was based on the elongation at break, which is a sensitive indicator of the mechanical integrity. In the case of polyethylene, HDPE was used as matrix and blends with up to 7% polyester type oligomer containing phosphonium salt gave acceptable mechanical properties. In the case of polypropylene even with 3% oligomer the mechanical properties were very poor. In this case improved mechanical properties were obtained with 3% sulfonated polystyrene phosphonium salts. Both HDPE and PP blend compositions were tested with respect to their antifouling and antimicrobial activity. The antimicrobial tests were performed according to the dynamic method, (Shake Flask method, ASTM E2149-01), for the determination of the antimicrobial activity of immobilized Antimicrobial Agents under dynamic contact conditions. The test micro organisms used, were: - X Esterichia Coli-CECT 239; - X Staphilococcus aureus-CECT 516 ; - X Aspergillus niger CECT-1394; - X Candida albicans CECT-2574. The results have shown that highly active materials were obtained in most cases. More specifically, the HDPE containing 3 wt% of the polyester type phosphonium oligomer showed a logarithmic reduction of 3 or even more for all the used microorganisms after 28 days. For the polypropylene compositions with 3-wt% of the polyester oligomer containing phosphonium salts, high activity was also obtained as supported by a logarithmic reduction of 3, for all the microorganisms used. The sulfonated polystyrene phosphonium salt blend composition showed activity only against staphylococcus. However this composition retains the best antifouling activity as defined from using preliminary laboratory bioassays. The field tests concerning the antifouling activity of the polypropylene compositions are currently in progress.

Exploitable results

The objective of the SPAN project consists in the development of antimicrobial oligomers and their incorporation in conventional polymers. Furthermore, the chemical modification of polymeric materials bearing appropriate functional groups with antimicrobial properties will be studied. The resulted specialty materials are expected to remain effective for a prolonged period. Additionally, they will be simple in use without causing any hazard to environment. The approach will be economically more efficient than previous techniques. The novel antimicrobials will be tested in different applications: Pharmaceutical packaging, fishnets and underwater constructions as well as yarns and fibres.

Searching for OpenAIRE data...

There was an error trying to search data from OpenAIRE

No results available