Filmes plásticos sustentáveis carregados com nanopartículas de nióbio/doxiciclina: com atividade antimicrobiana, caracterização e prospecção tecnológica

Abstract

In 2021, Embapel (a company facilitating the connection between recyclable waste and recycling industries) presented a ranking of countries that make the most of plastic waste in the world, where Brazil ranked among the lowest in the list, indicating that the country only recycles 3% of the produced plastic. This concerning situation highlights the importance of developing technologies that enable the creation of new processes and sustainable plastic materials generated from renewable sources, replacing precursors derived from fossil resources to utilize residual materials. The present dissertation aims to prepare and characterize sustainable plastic films made from waste materials from biofuel and leather industries as matrices for the release of antibacterial such as niobium nanoparticles and doxycycline, resulting in the plastic films: with niobium (P-Nb), with niobium/doxycycline (P-Nb/Dox), and with doxycycline (P-Dox). Additionally, a technological prospecting was conducted through patents and articles. The prepared materials were characterized using physical-chemical analysis techniques such as FT-IR, SEM, contact angle, and mechanical properties. The SEM micrographs of the films revealed a fibrous and homogenous morphology. The FT-IR spectra of the reagents and films exhibited characteristic peaks that were indicative of the starting materials' functional groups. Contact angle measurements of 26.16o suggested a hydrophilic character in the films. The P-Nb/Dox film demonstrated higher tensile strength compared to the control plastics. Moreover, the P-Nb/Dox film exhibited greater antibacterial activity against S. aureus with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 2.8 g/ml, inhibiting 99%, while the P-Dox film showed an MIC of 5.6 g/ml, inhibiting 94%. On the other hand, the study of the state of the art and the technique using databases of articles and patents revealed that the technology of plastic films with niobium nanoparticles and doxycycline for antibacterial activity is at a stage of embryonic of technological development TRL2- 3, and the market related is still new and in development.