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Studies of polylactide/zinc oxide nanocomposites: influence of surface treatment on zinc oxide antibacterial activities in textile nanocomposites
Author(s) -
Doumbia Awa Soronfé,
Vezin Hervé,
Ferreira Manuela,
Campagne Christine,
Devaux Eric
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.41776
Subject(s) - nanocomposite , materials science , zinc , chemical engineering , thermal stability , spinning , antibacterial activity , textile , scanning electron microscope , composite material , metallurgy , biology , bacteria , engineering , genetics
ABSTRACT Polylactide (PLA)/zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocomposite filaments were produced with a melt‐spinning process, with the aim of obtaining antibacterial textiles. ZnO, an inorganic antibacterial nanofiller, is used to impart antibacterial properties to PLA. These nanoparticles suit the melt‐spinning process because of their high thermal stability and low granulometry. Generally, metallic oxides (e.g., ZnO) are used to recycle PLA via catalyzed unzipping depolymerization. In this study, we used different ways to finely disperse ZnO in PLA and produce filaments with a minimum degradation of the thermal and mechanical properties. Optimized antibacterial properties were obtained with a fabric containing ZnO with specific surface treatments. The reasons for this better antibacterial activity, related to the study of the antibacterial mechanism of ZnO, were investigated with different characterization techniques [X‐ray, electron probe microanalysis, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR)]. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132 , 41776.