The Antibacterial Activity and Biodegradable Properties of Biodegradable Polymers Containing a Silver-Based Antibacterial Agent

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the spinnability, biodegradability and antibacterial properties of biodegradable polymers containing a silver-based antibacterial agent. The biodegradable polymers used were polybutyrene succinate (PBS) and polylactic acid (PLA). Two types of silver-based antibacterial agents, silver-based zeolite (AgZL) and silver-based zirconium phosphate (AgZR), were used. The experimental results show that the value of the weight-average molecular weight (Mw), which greatly affects the spinnability of the fiber sample, decreases with the increase in the contents of AgZL and AgZR for both PLA and PBS. The degree of the decrease in the Mw for AgZL was greater than that for AgZR because of the higher content of crystal water for AgZL. The value of antibacterial activity (R) for PLA was higher than that for PBS because of the lactic acid of PLA. AgZL was more effective in terms of antibacterial activity than AgZR in PLA and PBS fiber samples because the elution concentration of silver ions of AgZL is higher than that of AgZR from the initial stage of elution. The biodegradability of PLA and PBS increases with the increase in the content of the antibacterial agent. Especially, the hydrolysis of PLA is accelerated by the silver-based antibacterial agent. Finally, the value of R decreases as the number of washing cycles increases because the antibacterial agent falls of from the polymer surface.