Polyhydroxyalkanoate-copper antimicrobial films

M. QUISPE; M. E. VILLANUEVA; O. LOPEZ; G. J. COPELLO; M. VILLAR

Congreso; GEP-SLAP-CIP 2022 ? Congreso Iberoamericano de polímeros; 2022

In the last year, the COVID-19 pandemic hasrevealed the need for the use of materials withbiocide capacity, both for health use and forobjects of daily life. Particularly, biocide activity ofcopper ions is recognized, specifically of Cu 2+, andits activity is a function of its concentration, actingas a bacteriostatic agent in concentrationsbetween 25 and 150 μM or bactericidal in higherconcentrations [1]. Cupric ion inhibits proteinsynthesis, alters the cell membrane, induces lipiddamage that is key in the exchange of moleculesin the intra and extracellular environment, andalters nucleic acids of bacteria and viruses [2, 3].In this work, the effect of copper sulphateincorporation at different concentrations in thepolymeric matrix of poly(3-hydroxybutirate), PHB,was studied. Antimicrobial activity (AA) of PHBfilms was evaluated by the agar diffusiontechnique, determining the diffusion halo. Theeffect of addition of copper sulphate on PHBmechanical properties was also studied.