Open AccessAntimicrobial sustainable biopolymers for biomedical plastics applications – an overview
Author(s) -
Nur Syifaa Razak,
Rahmah Mohamed
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
polimery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.295
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 0032-2725
DOI - 10.14314/polimery.2021.11.2
Subject(s) - biopolymer , antimicrobial , materials science , chitosan , personal protective equipment , nanotechnology , polymer , polymer science , covid-19 , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , medicine , infectious disease (medical specialty) , disease , pathology
The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the need for personal protective equipment (PPE), especially for medical personnel: face masks, full protective clothing, gloves and goggles. To date, they are usually made of thermoplastic polymers, such as polypropylene (PP). To reduce the risk of secondary infections it is essential to enhance the antimicrobial (especially antibacterial and antiviral) properties of the materials used in PPE. There are some attempts to modify materials by, for example, silver nanoparticles or zinc oxides. The increasing demand for personal protective equipment, mostly masks, leads to an increase of environmental problem of non-biodegradable wastes. Therefore some researches on use of safer for user’s health sustainable antimicrobial and biodegradable biopolymer fibers, such as cellulose, starch, chitosan, poly(lactic acid) (PLA) or poly(glycolic acid) (PGA), have been done. These biopolymers and their properties are discussed in this article.