E. Krampe

Antimicrobial polymers - The antibacterial effect of photoactivated nano titanium dioxide polymer composites

To obtain a polymer with antimicrobial properties for medical and sanitary applications nanoscale titanium dioxide (TiO2) particles have been incorporated into a medical grade polypropylene (PP) matrix with various filler contents (0 wt %, 2 wt %, 10 wt % and 15 wt %). The standard application of TiO2 for antimicrobial efficacy is to deposit a thin TiO2 coating on the surface. In contrast to the common way of applying a coating, TiO2 particles were applied into the bulk polymer. With this design we want to ensure antimicrobial properties even after application of impact effects that could lead to surface defects. The filler material (Aeroxide® TiO2 P25, Evonik) was applied via melt compounding and the compounding parameters were optimized with respect to nanoscale titanium dioxide. In a next step the effect of UV-irradiation on the compounds concerning their photocatalytic activity, which is related to the titanium dioxide amount, was investigated. The photocatalytic effect of TiO2-PP-composites was analy...