Antimicrobial Materials

Infectious disease management is becoming increasingly in recent years. One of the reasons is the disease association with biofilms. Biofilms are complex aggregations of microbes, embedded into a mucous matrix and attached to surfaces. Biofilm formation directly affects the performance of many industrial processes, such as food processing and storage, marine transport and management, and water treatment. In the medical field, bacterial colonization of medical devices, including surgical equipment, implants, and other healthcare-related products, poses serious risks to public health. New materials are needed to offer improved antimicrobial strategy. Requirements for qualified materials include that they can kill or inhibit microbial growth on their surface or within the surrounding environment with superior efficacy, demonstrate low toxicity, and post minimized environmental problems.

The development of materials and devices with antimicrobial properties has thus begun, by adding antibiotics to the material or by application of antimicrobial coatings.

A variety of materials have antimicrobial properties. Silver has a long history of being used as an effective antimicrobial material and can be fabricated into devices with numerous formulations, showing no toxicity to human cells in given concentrations. Copper and its alloys (brasses, bronzes, cupronickel, copper–nickel–zinc, and others) are innovatory and natural antimicrobial materials that have intrinsic properties to destroy a wide range of microorganisms. Antimicrobial polymers have emerged as promising candidates against microbial contamination. Their versatile macromolecular chemistry facilitates the tailoring of polymer physicochemical properties for various applications in the biomedical field.

Surface coating, or depositing an antibacterial material onto the substratum surfaces, is one of the most widely used methods.

Generally, the bulk materials that perform an anti-bacterial action without any modification can be described as intrinsically antibacterial material. Many substances possess bactericidal ability in nature. As mentioned above, silver and copper have been the earliest metals to be intentionally used for its intrinsically antibacterial properties. Polymeric materials like chitosan and bioactive glasses are also intrinsically anti-bacterial materials.

At Matexcel, we provide various forms of materials with antimicrobial properties, such as antimicrobial powder, antimicrobial master batches, fibers, even some antimicrobial building materials.

Advantage of our antimicrobial material:
• Highly stable over long periods of time;
• Easily and inexpensively synthesized;
• Not decomposing or emitting toxic products;
• Water-insoluble (for disinfection of water);
• Broad-spectrum of antimicrobial activity;
• Non-toxic and non-irritating.

Please contact us for more information. We aim to provide professional antimicrobial materials to our customers.