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. 2014 Mar 27:262–287. doi: 10.1533/9781845695552.2.262

Table 8.1.

Incorporation of heavy metals into polyolefins

 Antimicrobial Activity
Antimicrobial agent/polymer fabrication method Minimum concentration contact time (method) bacteria reduction Remarks Ref.
Silver nano-sized particle/PP Melt blending & film casting

  • > 0.1

  • wt%24 h (AATCC 100)

  • 99.9% (S. aureus)

 Show activity for micro-sized when Conc. > 0.5 % Jeong et al. (2005a, 2005b)
Silver nano-sized particle/PP Melt blending & sheath/core fiber spinning

  • 0.3 wt% (0.026 vol %) in sheath

  • NR (AATCC 100)

  • 99.9% (S. aureus and K. pneumoniae)

 No activity when silver was in core Yeo and Jeong (2003), Yeo et al. (2003)
Elementary silver/PP Melt blending & film casting

  • 0.8

  • wt%28 d (Shake-flask)

  • 90% (S. aureus and E. coli)

 Adding carrier improve activities Radheshkumar and Münstedt (2006)
Copper oxide/PPMelt blending, fiber spinning & making spun-bonded fabric

  • 3 wt%

  • 4 h (AATCC 100)

  • 99.9% (S. aureus and E. coli)

  • 98.7% (C. albicans)

 No difference due to layer thickness Gabbay et al. (2006)