Antimicrobial Polymers

The pioneering guide on the design, processing, and testing of antimicrobial plastic materials and coatings The manifestation of harmful microbes in plastic materials used in medical devices and drugs, water purification systems, hospital equipment, textiles, and food packaging pose alarming health threats to consumers by exposing them to many serious infectious diseases. As a result, high demand for intensifying efforts in the R&D of antimicrobial polymers has placed heavy reliance on both academia and industry to find viable solutions for producing safer plastic materials. To assist researchers and students in this endeavor, Antimicrobial Polymers explores coupling contaminant-deterring biocides and plastics—focusing particular attention on natural biocides and the nanofabrication of biocides. Each chapter is devoted to addressing a key technology employed to impart antimicrobial behavior to polymers, including chemical modification of the polymers themselves. A host of relevant topics, such as regulatory matters, human safety, and environmental risks are covered to help lend depth to the book's vital subject matter. In addition, Antimicrobial Polymers: Discusses the design, processing, and testing of antimicrobial plastic materials Covers interdisciplinary areas of chemistry and microbiology Includes applications in food packaging, medical devices, nanotechnology, and coatings Details regulations from the U.S. (FDA and EPA) and EU as well as human safety and environmental concerns Achieving cleaner and more effective methods for improving the infection-fighting properties of versatile and necessary plastic materials is a goal that stretches across many scientific fields. Antimicrobial Polymers combines all of this information into one volume, exposing readers to preventive strategies that harbor vast potential for making exposure to polymeric products and surfaces a far less risky undertaking in the future.

PREFACE vii CONTRIBUTORS ix 1 ANTIMICROBIAL PACKAGING POLYMERS. A GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 Jose´ M. Lagaron, Maria J. Ocio, and Amparo Lopez-Rubio 2 BACTERIAL RESISTANCE AND CHALLENGES OF BIOCIDE PLASTICS 23 Nibras A.A.M. Ahmed 3 “CLICK CHEMISTRY” TO DERIVED ANTIMICROBIAL POLYMERS 51 P. Lecomte, R. Riva, and C. Jerome 4 CHITOSAN AND CHITOSAN BLENDS AS ANTIMICROBIALS 71 Patricia Fernandez-Saiz 5 THYMOL IN NANOCOMPOSITES. A CASE STUDY 101 Maria Dolores Sanchez-Garcia 6 BACTERIOCINS IN PLASTICS 117 Gianluigi Mauriello and Francesco Villani 7 ANTIMICROBIAL ENZYMES AND NATURAL EXTRACTS IN PLASTICS 159 Marcella Mastromatteo, Marianna Mastromatteo, Amalia Conte, and Matteo Alessandro Del Nobile 8 ANTIMICROBIAL PEPTIDES 195 Jose F. Marcos and Paloma Manzanares 9 RECOMBINANT ANTIMICROBIAL PEPTIDES 227 J. Carlos Rodriguez-Cabello, Carmen Garcia-Arevalo, Alessandra Girotti, Laura Martin, and Mercedes Santos 10 NOVEL ANTIMICROBIALS OBTAINED BY ELECTROSPINNING METHODS 261 Sergio Torres-Giner 11 SILVER- AND NANOSILVER-BASED PLASTIC TECHNOLOGIES 287 Antonio Martinez-Abad 12 ANTIMICROBIAL PLASTICS BASED ON METAL-CONTAINING NANOLAYERED CLAYS 317 Jose´ M. Lagaron and Maria A. Busolo 13 NANOMETALS AS ANTIMICROBIALS 327 R.P. Allaker, M.A. Vargas-Reus, and G.G. Ren 14 TITANIUM DIOXIDE-BASED PLASTIC TECHNOLOGIES 351 Marta Fernandez-Garcia, Maria L. Cerrada, Anna Kubacka, and Marcos Fernandez-Garcia 15 TISSUE-IMPLANT ANTIMICROBIAL INTERFACES 379 E. Marsich, A. Travan, I. Donati, G. Turco, F. Bellomo, and S. Paoletti 16 CHARACTERIZING THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN CELL MEMBRANES AND ANTIMICROBIALS VIA SUM-FREQUENCY GENERATION VIBRATIONAL SPECTROSCOPY 429 Christopher W. Avery and Zhan Chen 17 GAS-BASED ANTIMICROBIALS IN ACTIVE PACKAGING 459 Siriyupa Netramai, Maria Rubino, and Loong-Tak Lim 18 CURRENT LEGISLATION IN ANTIMICROBIALS 489 Javier Gomez 19 HUMAN SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF BIOCIDES 527 Orla Condell, Carol Iversen, Karen Power, and Seamus Fanning INDEX 561