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    Polyurethane-Based Composites: Effects of Antibacterial Fillers on the Physical-Mechanical Behavior of Thermoplastic Polyurethanes

    Year: 2020

    Journal: Polymers, Volume 12, FEB

    Authors: Villani, Maurizio; Consonni, Roberto; Canetti, Maurizio; Bertoglio, Federico; Iervese, Stefano; Bruni, Giovanna; Visai, Livia; Iannace, Salvatore; Bertini, Fabio

    Organizations: Regione Lombardia Project "Piattaforma tecnologica per lo sviluppo di sonde innovative in ambito biomedicale" [244356]; Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR)Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR)

    Keywords: polymer matrix composites; thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU); titanium dioxide; silver; chitosan; physical-mechanical properties; antibacterial

    The challenge to manufacture medical devices with specific antibacterial functions, and the growing demand for systems able to limit bacterial resistance growth, necessitates the development of new technologies which can be easily produced at an industrial level. The object of this work was the study and the development of silver, titanium dioxide, and chitosan composites for the realization and/or implementation of biomedical devices. Thermoplastic elastomeric polyurethane was selected and used as matrix for the various antibacterial functions introduced during the processing phase (melt compounding). This strategy was employed to directly incorporate antimicrobial agents into the main constituent material of the devices themselves. With the exception of the composite filled with titanium dioxide, all of the other tested composites were shown to possess satisfactory mechanical properties. The best antibacterial effects were obtained with all the composites against Staphylococcus aureus: viability was efficiently inhibited by the prepared materials in four different bacterial culture concentrations.
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