Abstract
Antimicrobial composite membranes, formed by cellulose acetate loaded with AgNO3 particles, were produced by supercritical phase inversion. Different cellulose acetate concentrations were tested (15%, 20%, 30%(w/w)), whereas the active agent (i.e., silver nitrate) concentration was fixed at 0.1%(w/w) with respect to the quantity of polymer used. To determine the influence of the process parameters on membranes morphology, the pressure and temperature were varied from 150 to 250 bar and from 55 to 35 °C, respectively. In all cases, regularly porous membranes were produced with a uniform AgNO3 distribution in the membrane matrix. Silver release rate depended on membrane pore size, covering a time interval from 8 to 75 h.
Highlights
Active polymer nanocomposites are a relevant research field in nanotechnology [1,2,3], since they combine the polymer characteristics with the active role of the loaded compounds. They can be used in different applications, depending on their properties, e.g., antimicrobial devices are widely used in medicine [4], pharmaceutical [5] and food [6] fields, in form of film [7], membranes [8] and particles [9]
cellulose acetate (CA) membranes was tried in this work
The first set of experiments was focused on the effect of process kinetics and thermodynamics on the membrane’s morphology
Summary
Active polymer nanocomposites are a relevant research field in nanotechnology [1,2,3], since they combine the polymer characteristics (e.g., mechanical properties, biocompatibility, low cost, etc.) with the active role of the loaded compounds (e.g., antimicrobial, antioxidant, etc.). They can be used in different applications, depending on their properties, e.g., antimicrobial devices are widely used in medicine [4], pharmaceutical [5] and food [6] fields, in form of film [7], membranes [8] and particles [9]. The interest in nanocomposites loaded with silver nanoparticles is due to the antimicrobial effect of nanosilver that is maximized when a homogeneous dispersion of this active compound on the surface and inside the polymer host is assured [15].
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