Book description
The pioneering guide on the design, processing, and testing of
antimicrobial plastic materials and coatings
The manifestation of harmful microbes in plastic materials used in
medical devices and drugs, water purification systems, hospital
equipment, textiles, and food packaging pose alarming health threats
to consumers by exposing them to many serious infectious diseases. As
a result, high demand for intensifying efforts in the R&D of
antimicrobial polymers has placed heavy reliance on both academia and
industry to find viable solutions for producing safer plastic
materials. To assist researchers and students in this endeavor,
Antimicrobial Polymers explores coupling contaminant-deterring
biocides and plastics-focusing particular attention on natural
biocides and the nanofabrication of biocides. Each chapter is devoted
to addressing a key technology employed to impart antimicrobial
behavior to polymers, including chemical modification of the polymers
themselves. A host of relevant topics, such as regulatory matters,
human safety, and environmental risks are covered to help lend depth
to the book's vital subject matter. In addition, Antimicrobial Polymers:
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Discusses the design, processing, and testing of antimicrobial
plastic materials
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Covers interdisciplinary areas of chemistry and microbiology
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Includes applications in food packaging, medical devices,
nanotechnology, and coatings
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Details regulations from the U. S. (FDA and EPA) and EU as well
as human safety and environmental concerns
Achieving cleaner and more effective methods for improving the
infection-fighting properties of versatile and necessary plastic
materials is a goal that stretches across many scientific fields.
Antimicrobial Polymers combines all of this information into
one volume, exposing readers to preventive strategies that harbor vast
potential for making exposure to polymeric products and surfaces a far
less risky undertaking in the future.
JOSé M. LAGARóN
, PhD, is Founder and Group-Leader of the Novel Materials and
Nanotechnology Group of the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food
Technology (IATA) of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC)
in Valencia, Spain. and is part-time Professor of Materials Science at
the Universitat Jaume I. Dr. Lagaron has published more than one hundred
peer-reviewed papers, a book and several book chapters, and has fourteen
patent applications in nanotechnology applied to polymers.
MARÍA J. OCIO, PhD, is a Food Technologist Tenure Track
Lecturer at the Preventive Medicine Department of the University of
Valencia and also project leader within the Novel Materials and
Nanotechnology Lab at the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food
Technology of CSIC. She has a wide knowledge and experience in the
handling of microorganisms of interest in the food industry. Dr. Ocio
has over forty publications in peer-reviewed international journals.
AMPARO LóPEZ-RUBIO, PhD, is a research scientist and project
leader within the Novel Materials and Nanotechnology Group of the
IATA-CSIC. She has published over thirty-five papers in peer-reviewed
international journals on the subjects of food technology,
nanotechnology, packaging and biopackaging.
