Novel LDPE/vermiculite/ciclopiroxolamine hybrid nanocomposites: Structure, surface properties, and antifungal activity

Abstract

The increasing number of indwelling medical materials and devices are connected with infections caused by yeast, especially Candida albicans. This pathogen produces biofilms on synthetic materials, which facilitates adhesion of the organisms to devices and renders them relatively refractory to medical therapy. Since antimicrobial polymer nanocomposites present one of the promising possibilities, this study explores a new approach to achieving this goal by developing nanocomposite based on low density polyethylene (LDPE) with clay mineral vermiculite as an active carrier for antifungal compound. The set of LDPE/clay nanocomposite with increasing amount of antifungal nanofiller was prepared by melt compounding procedure. As antifungal agent was selected generally used active substance ciclopiroxolamine and this compound was loaded into natural vermiculite through ultrasound technique. The structure of all prepared samples was studied by X‐ray diffraction analysis and Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy. Further thermal properties of polyethylene/clay nanocomposites were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis and the surface properties were evaluated by light optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. From mentioned characteristics, we conclude that presence of nanofiller in LDPE primarily causes shift of thermal degradation to higher temperatures and increasing of microhardness. All prepared LDPE nanocomposites possess an excellent and prolonged antifungal activity against Candida albicans.

Comprehensive study of antimicrobial polycaprolactone/clay nanocomposite films: Preparation, characterization, properties and degradation in simulated body fluid

“…[7][8][9] Especially of particular interest are recently developed hybrid nanocomposites which are a result of interaction between clay minerals and organic polymers. [10][11][12][13][14] Their properties are improved mainly due to nanometric thickness and high surface area of clay minerals, which allow them to modify their structure for example by intercalation of drugs or antimicrobial compounds to create polymer/clay nanocomposites applied in medical fields such as implants, 15,16 drug delivery, [17][18][19] biomedicine, 16,20,21 antimicrobial materials, [22][23][24][25] other medical devices 26 or for food packaging. [27][28][29][30] On the other hand, there is the polymer matrix, and in this regard, due to the ever-increasing concerns about current environmental pollution and the depletion of fossil resources, which are the largest source of monomers to produce polymers, attention is now increasingly focused on the development of biodegradable polymer nanocomposites.…”

“…Especially of particular interest are recently developed hybrid nanocomposites which are a result of interaction between clay minerals and organic polymers 10–14 . Their properties are improved mainly due to nanometric thickness and high surface area of clay minerals, which allow them to modify their structure for example by intercalation of drugs or antimicrobial compounds to create polymer/clay nanocomposites applied in medical fields such as implants, 15,16 drug delivery, 17–19 biomedicine, 16,20,21 antimicrobial materials, 22–25 other medical devices 26 or for food packaging 27–30 …”

Advanced antimicrobial PCL/clay nanocomposite films: preparation, characterization, properties and degradation in simulated body fluid

“…antimicrobial materials [14][15][16][17], other medical devices [18] or for food packaging [19][20][21][22].…”

The Relationship between a Rotational Molding Processing Procedure and the Structure and Properties of Biobased Polyethylene Composites Filled with Expanded Vermiculite

“…The vermiculite can also be treated by a substance that has antifungal properties. This treatment provides good dispersion and adhesion to LDPE and long-lasting antifungal efficacy [ 30 ]. The PE–vermiculite composites were also investigated due to their antibacterial properties.…”