Low intensity electric field inactivation of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria via metal-free polymeric composite.

The adhesion of pathogenic bacteria in medical implants and surfaces is a health-related problem that requires strong inhibition against bacterial growth and attachment. In this work, we have explored the enhancement in the antibacterial activity of metal free-based composites under external electric field. It affects the oxidation degree of polypyrrole-based electrodes and consequently the antibacterial activity of the material.

Multifunctional Wearable Electronic Textiles Using Cotton Fibers with Polypyrrole and Carbon Nanotubes.

Multifunctional wearable electronic textiles based on interfacial polymerization of polypyrrole on carbon nanotubes/cotton fibers offer advantages of simple and low-cost materials that incorporate bactericidal, good electrochemical performance, and electrical heating properties. The high conductivity of doped polypyrrole/CNT composite provides textiles that reaches temperature on order of 70 °C with field of 5 V/cm, superior electrochemical performance applied as electrodes of supercapacitor prototypes, reaching capacitance in order of 30 F g and strong bactericidal activity against Staphylococcus aureus. The combination of these properties can be explored in smart devices for heat and microbial treatment on different parts of body, with incorporated storage of energy on textiles.

Antibacterial behavior of polypyrrole: The influence of morphology and additives incorporation.

The antibacterial behavior of polypyrrole (PPy) depends on a diversity of structural parameters such as surface area, aggregation level and additives (metal nanoparticles) incorporation. This paper summarizes the influence of different preparation procedures of PPy on action of resulting antibacterial composite against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The bactericidal action has been assigned to morphology (size of polypyrrole nanoparticles).