Antimicrobial PLA films from environment friendly additives

This research involves antimicrobial modifications of biodegradable Polylactide (PLA) using environment friendly antimicrobial agents (silver and chitosan) and bio based alcohol (glycerol and polyethylene glycol). Silver (Ag) is an efficacious and useful antibacterial agent and is incorporated to PLA polymer by surface modifications using plasma technology. Antimicrobial activity of PLA films was measured against Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538) and Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli (DSMZ 30083). Further characterization of modified PLA films was performed by contact angle method in order to determine their hydrophilicity. The plasma modification conditions and parameters showed a strong influence on plasma-deposited thin films, which resulted in the improvement of hydrophilicity and antimicrobial properties. Silver release of coatings on the films was investigated by using Inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). The modified PLA films were particularly effective against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli and thus may find future application in biomedical and food packaging areas. Antimicrobial films produced from biodegradable PLA offers sustainable solution for biomedical and food packaging industry.