Original antifouling strategy: Polypropylene films modified with chitosan-coated silver nanoparticles

GIULIANA MOSCONI; MARIA F. STRAGLIOTTO; WALTER SLENK; LAURA VALENTI; CARLA GIACOMELLI; MIRIAM C. STRUMIA; CESAR G. GOMEZ

JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE

JOHN WILEY & SONS INC

Año: 2019

0021-8995

(PAA-grafted PP) films. A green AgNP synthesis is used by thermal reductionof AgNO3 with amino groups of chitosan (CS), which controls ion diffusion and stabilizes nanoparticles.AgNP/CS complexes are adsorbed on PAA-grafted PP by electrostatic interactions, yielding AgNP/CS-coatedPP films. These films show an excellent antimicrobial activity, even for AgNP contents as low as 0.08 wt %,reducing more than 4 log units in the viable Staphylococcus aureus concentration or inducing Escherichiacoli death. This trend is consistent with an adequate amount of small AgNP adsorbed in an organized mannerwithin a thin surface layer. Therefore, the antimicrobial activity of this film seems to be more than promising,used as an active surface for a wide range of applications.