Influence of ionic liquid on graphite/silver nanoparticles dispersion and antibacterial properties against Escherichia coli of PP/EPDM composite coatings

In this work, graphite doped with silver nanoparticles are synthesized and coated onto a PP/EPDM blend surface. Three nanoparticles deposition methods are used. In one method, the nanoparticles are directly deposited on previously corona discharge-treated TPO surface. Another method is by compression deposition of nanoparticles in a thin layer forming a segregated coating. In the last method, a nanoparticle-polymer composite is deposited and then treated by corona discharge to expose the deposited nanoparticles. These last two methods show excellent antimicrobial activity (R = 2.8 and 3.9, respectively) and higher inhibition values (85% and 89%, respectively) against Escherichia coli strains. The effect of using HMIMPF6 and BMIMBF4 ionic liquids on particle dispersion and antibacterial activity against E. coli is evaluated. Using ionic liquids enhance the antibacterial activity (from R = 3.9 to 5.4) and inhibition rates (from 89% to 99.8%) of the samples. As a result, a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) material with enhanced antibacterial properties against E. coli is obtained using ionic liquids, which offer significant promise as a material for medical applications. (c) 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 137, 48714.