POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE NANOCOMPOSITES WITH HYBRID NANOPARTICLES CONTAINING SILVER FOR APPLICATIONS IN HOSPITAL CURTAINS
The development of materials for the manufacture of protective products in hospital infrastructure, such as bed separator curtains, has been growing due to various market demands. The COVID-19 pandemic has raised awareness of the proliferation of microorganisms through contact with product surfaces. In addition to the need for the material to have antimicrobial properties, there are other important properties, such as protection against UV radiation, flame retardancy and self-cleaning action. The aim of this work is to synthesize hybrid silver nanoparticles in titanium dioxide (Ag/TiO2) and in organomodified nano-clay Cloisite 30B (Ag/C30B) for the development of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) matrix nanocomposites via the molten state, without the need for surface treatment, in order to assess the feasibility of applications in protective products in hospital infrastructure. Ag/TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical reduction and Ag/C30B by ion exchange, followed by in-situ thermal reduction in PET. The presence of silver in both systems was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray scattering spectroscopy (XSDS). By Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), the size of the nanoparticles was estimated: 300 nm for Ag/TiO2 and 1 μm for Ag/C30B. By UV-Vis spectroscopy, Ag/TiO2 showed greater absorption of radiation in the ultraviolet and visible spectrum compared to TiO2. The nanocomposites obtained via an internal mixer were characterized to evaluate their antiviral properties (SARS-CoV-2) (ISO 21702:2019), hydrophobicity (ASTM D7334) and flame retardancy (UL-94). The results obtained showed virucidal activity for the PET samples with 1% AgTiO2 + 4%Ag/C30B and PET with 2% AgTiO2 + 3% Ag/C30B. The other properties evaluated did not undergo any major changes compared to pure PET.