The Antifungal Fibers of Polyamide 12 Containing Silver and Metal Oxides.

The textile market is a vast industry that utilizes antimicrobial polymeric materials, including various types of fabrics, for medical and personal protection applications. Therefore, this study focused on examining four types of antimicrobial fillers, namely, metal oxides (zinc, titanium, copper) and nanosilver, as fillers in Polyamide 12 fibers. These fillers can be applied in the knitting or weaving processes to obtain woven polymeric fabrics for medical applications.

The Composites of Polyamide 12 and Metal Oxides with High Antimicrobial Activity.

The lack of resistance of plastic objects to various pathogens and their increasing activity in our daily life have made researchers develop polymeric materials with biocidal properties. Hence, this paper describes the thermoplastic composites of Polyamide 12 mixed with 1-5 wt % of the nanoparticles of zinc, copper, and titanium oxides prepared by a twin-screw extrusion process and injection moulding. A satisfactory biocidal activity of polyamide 12 nanocomposites was obtained thanks to homogenously dispersed metal oxides in the polymer matrix and the wettability of the metal oxides by PA12.