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Silver- and Zinc-Decorated Polyurethane Ionomers with Tunable Hard/Soft Phase Segregation

Rapone, Irene; Taresco, Vincenzo; Lisio, Valerio Di; Piozzi, Antonella; Francolini, Iolanda

Silver- and Zinc-Decorated Polyurethane Ionomers with Tunable Hard/Soft Phase Segregation Thumbnail


Authors

Irene Rapone

Valerio Di Lisio

Antonella Piozzi

Iolanda Francolini



Abstract

Segmented polyurethane ionomers find prominent applications in the biomedical field since they can combine the good mechanical and biostability properties of polyurethanes (PUs) with the strong hydrophilicity features of ionomers. In this work, PU ionomers were prepared from a carboxylated diol, poly(tetrahydrofuran) (soft phase) and a small library of diisocyanates (hard phase), either aliphatic or aromatic. The synthesized PUs were characterized to investigate the effect of ionic groups and the nature of diisocyanate upon the structure–property relationship. Results showed how the polymer hard/soft phase segregation was affected by both the concentration of ionic groups and the type of diisocyanate. Specifically, PUs obtained with aliphatic diisocyanates possessed a hard/soft phase segregation stronger than PUs with aromatic diisocyanates, as well as greater bulk and surface hydrophilicity. In contrast, a higher content of ionic groups per polymer repeat unit promoted phase mixing. The neutralization of polymer ionic groups with silver or zinc further increased the hard/soft phase segregation and provided polymers with antimicrobial properties. In Particular, the Zinc/PU hybrid systems possessed activity only against the Gram-positive Staphylococcus epidermidis while Silver/PU systems were active also against the Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The herein obtained polyurethanes could find promising applications as antimicrobial coatings for different kinds of surfaces including medical devices, fabric for wound dressings and other textiles.

Citation

Rapone, I., Taresco, V., Lisio, V. D., Piozzi, A., & Francolini, I. (2021). Silver- and Zinc-Decorated Polyurethane Ionomers with Tunable Hard/Soft Phase Segregation. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(11), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22116134

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 4, 2021
Online Publication Date Jun 7, 2021
Publication Date Jun 7, 2021
Deposit Date Jun 25, 2021
Publicly Available Date Jun 25, 2021
Journal International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Print ISSN 1661-6596
Electronic ISSN 1422-0067
Publisher MDPI
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 22
Issue 11
Article Number 6134
Pages 1-16
DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22116134
Keywords Physical and Theoretical Chemistry; Inorganic Chemistry; Organic Chemistry; Spectroscopy; Molecular Biology; Catalysis; General Medicine; Computer Science Applications
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5671184
Publisher URL https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/11/6134

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