Elaboración de fibras poliméricas a partir de polietilentereftalato reciclado de botellas con adición de nanopartículas de óxido de zinc mediante el método de electrospinning para evaluar las propiedades antibacteriales

Abstract

The use of plastic products has developed quickly and on a large scale, bringing with it the impact of their waste. These, when deposited in natural environments, have serious consequences on the environment. In order to reduce this environmental problem, projects are being carried out with the purpose of obtaining products with added value, using these wastes as raw materials. An example of this is fibers. The different areas in which fibers are used are due to the morphology and size achieved by different techniques. In addition, the incorporation of different agents such as nanoparticles allows improving their properties and providing additional properties such as self-cleaning, antibacterial activity, protection against UV rays, etc. In the present work, the synthesis of polymeric fibers based on recycled polyethylene terephthalate (r-PET) from postconsumer water bottles, functionalized with zinc oxide nanoparticles (NPs-ZnO), was carried out to evaluate the antibacterial characteristics. The NPs-ZnO were synthesized by the solvothermal method using zinc nitrate (precursor) and ethanol (solvent), obtaining nanoscale particles with an average diameter of 38.15 nm; and the fibers were obtained by electrospinning with a diameter between 200-1000 nm, which varied as the percentage of nanoparticles increased. The evaluation of the antibacterial effect of the fibers was carried out against Escherichia coli and Bacillus suptilus using the agar diffusion method, obtaining the greatest inhibition halo for 6% NPs-ZnO, being 26.5 mm and 34.25 mm, respectively. The same method was used to evaluate the antifungal activity of Penicilium s.p. and Fusarium graminerium, observing that the growth of the microorganism is oriented to the opposite end of the sample, for both cases.