Antimicrobial Substrates - Rubber

Additives. Silver seems like it has a role. I don't know. I'd suggest some research, such as:

Antimicrobial Plastic Profiles | Extruded Antimicrobials ..

They are out there. It's a question of compounding and processing.

Good luck.

Impregnation with antimicrobial particles. What anti microbial materials might be able to be entrained in the material? What would the particle size need to be? What would the interparticular distance need to be?

I'm thinking solids, not antiseptic liquids.

Think about this then come back to discuss.

Milo

The specific desire is, "Antimicrobial Rubber".

Don't think you grasp the concept.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Antimicrobial+Rubber%23&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox&ie=&oe=&redir_esc=&ei=VVXaS8ukOZOy0gTpv7XHAg

Thank you all for your input it's really appreciated.

I've worked with several different ones. These are typically put in the monomer resins before final polymerization. Here are some links:

http://www.biosafe.com/

http://www.smartsilver.com/

(I'm not promoting either)

Silver alginate is used in antimicrobial wound dressings, but I don't know if this is available as a raw material.

I have been successful in incorporating povidone-iodine into a solution acrylic skin contact adhesive.

I believe some of the BioSafe products have been incorporated into various plastics, and there is some information on their website explaining how it is done.

Mike

Here's another link.

http://www.ionarmour.com/index.php/site/page/start

There was a cool article in popular science recently. basically by using a micro or nano texture on a plastic film covering, they found that bacteria or barnacles can't stick to a substance(orignally investigated as a anti barnacle idea for the shipping industry). The mechanism is hazy but suggest that bacteria colonies need the surface to be relatively flat. By breaking up the surface, the bacterial colonies essentially only grow until they hit an obstruction then stop. Since these textures are on the very very tiny scale, the colonies stop growing while still not large enough to be infectious. (If you check the cdc's website they have documented the approximate colony sizes needed for infection relative to each bacterial species. I believe these film coverings could be produced with a wide range of plastics. http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2009-10/saving-skin

did you try zinc oxide ?

Zinc oxide is not a fungicide per Se; it is a fungi stat, i.e., it inhibits the growth of fungi. It is added to fungicides to enhance their effectiveness in specific applications. Zinc oxide derivatives also promote the control of fungi in a variety of applications. end is a basic compound in the rubber industry

www.numinor.com

Copper and silver are antimicrobial and may possibly be added to plastic or plated on top to form a protective area as well I think I have read of nanoparticles being used for antimicrobial purposes just not sure of what they used.