Abstract
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is one of the biggest problems in the modern world. The prevention of bacterial spreading from hospitals to the community and vice versa is an issue we have to deal with. This review presents a vast potential of contemporary high-pressure techniques in the design of materials with antimicrobial activity. Scientists from all over the world came up with ideas on how to exploit extraordinary properties of supercritical fluids in the production of advantageous materials in an environmentally friendly way. The review summarizes reported methods and results.
Highlights
The application of supercritical fluids is a powerful tool in the development of novel materials with antimicrobial activity desperately needed in the time of increasing bacterial resistance to antibiotics and the dramatic appearance and spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and pandrug-resistant (PDR) bacterial strains
The results showed an enhancement of the antibacterial activity of lavandin oil against E.coli, S. aureus, and Bacillus cereus by the encapsulation due to the protection and control release provided by the carrier [113]
The extraordinary properties of scCO2, namely favorable critical parameters and transport properties as well as near zero surface tension allow for the design of materials that cannot be produced by other methods
Summary
The application of supercritical fluids is a powerful tool in the development of novel materials with antimicrobial activity desperately needed in the time of increasing bacterial resistance to antibiotics and the dramatic appearance and spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and pandrug-resistant (PDR) bacterial strains. It was reported that a combination of plant extracts and ineffective antibiotics might have an outcome in antibacterial activity against resistant strains [13,14] As it will be presented, active substances used may be small molecules, natural extracts, antibiotics, nanoparticles, antibacterial polymers, antibacterial dyes, or other chemicals synthesized in conventional processes or in scCO2 as a reaction medium. These substances were reported to have significant antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria [17,18,19] and are generally recognized as safe (GRAS status) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) [19] This technique provides broad possibilities for material design when active substances are soluble in scCO2.
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