TECHNOLOGY | ANTIMICROBIALS
Right: High- touch TPE surfaces such as grips for wearable electronic products can benefit from antimicrobial protection, says Avient
compelling safety profile,” says Shiming Wo, Gelest Vice President and General Manager Life Sciences. The additives are marketed under the BioSafe name and are registered with the US EPA and have US FDA and NSF certification for direct food contact applications. The company says it is seeing increased interest in its BioSafe HM4100 antimicro- bials, which can be compounded into thermoplas- tics, for applications in personal care, home care, medical devices, personal protection equipment, food packaging, and new markets. European compounder Benvic Group, which is
headquartered in France, uses a variety of antimi- crobial technologies. Silver ion antimicrobial technology is applied in some of its PVC com- pounds for production of gaskets and cable conduits for hospitals or other environments where disinfection is critical, says Eric Grange, Marketing Manager at the company. It has also developed an antibacterial technology called Plastisafe that it supplies in its PVC and PLA compounds and also as a masterbatch for compounding in to a range of thermoplastics (such as PP, PE, PA, ABS) to provide bacteriostatic properties.
“Plastisafe modifies the surface and creates an
electrostatic repulsion of the bacteria. The advan- tage of this solution is that it is fully food-contact compatible, harmless, and a lower cost than metal-based technology,” according to Grange. Plastisafe is used in hospitals, the food industry, and for touch-surfaces such as computer key- boards and toothbrushes. According to the company, it is also suitable for medical packaging and drug delivery systems.
Flexible options Last year,Avient introduced three GLS thermoplas- tic elastomers containing antimicrobial additives based on zinc pyrithione from Lonza. Available in the US and Asia, potential applications are said to include consumer electronic products, personal care item grips, and automotive applications such as cup holder mats and HVAC seals. The company says that high-touch TPE surfaces are vulnerable to detrimental aesthetic and mechanical property changes caused by microorganism growth, but that parts containing an antimicrobial can inhibit microbial growth and so extend useful lifetimes. Avient has tested moulded plaques of the
material according to JIS Z2801 and ASTM G21-15 standards and has determined that the additives protect moulded plastic parts by inhibiting bacterial growth (99.9% or more) and resisting
36 COMPOUNDING WORLD | July 2021
fungal and mould growth, according to Russ Danielson, Senior Marketing Manager, Specialty Engineered Materials at the company. Interest in antimicrobials is also developing for engineering plastics applications, according to Bill Galla, Vice President of National Sales at US-based Polymer Resources Ltd. He says that when the company had experimented with antimicrobial engineering thermoplastic compounds prior to 2020, most customers considered antimicrobials as cost-prohibitive and unnecessary. But that is no longer the case. “Customers are now viewing antimicrobial product development as a value- added need, not just a ‘nice to have’,” he says. Polymer Resources recently commercialised an
antimicrobial polycarbonate compound that is UL listed for all colours and fully tested for antimicro- bial activity. The material is intended for electrical applications such as switches, enclosures, and wall-mounted coverings in both healthcare and home settings, according to Galla. He says such ‘high-touch’ applications are increasingly being made with antimicrobials. “Adding any level of antimicrobial additives to a
resin that is UL listed would require testing and recertification by UL in order to achieve a UL listing,” says Galla. He says the company was able to achieve similar performance for their antimicro- bial PC on the UL card as the non-antimicrobial version. Additional engineering resin grades using similar antimicrobial technology are now in development.
CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: �
www.microban.com �
www.addmaster.co.uk/biomaster �
www.biocote.com �
www.sanitized.com �
www.radicalmaterials.com �
www.parxmaterials.com �
www.gelest.com �
www.benvic.com �
www.avient.com �
www.prlresins.com
www.compoundingworld.com
IMAGE: AVIENT
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