ABSTRACT

SILVAPAPER project aims at rationally designing and producing new composite materials consisting of coordination polymers based on silver and polydentate nitrogen-donor ligands incorporated into cellulosic matrices from paper, which destroy or inhibit the growth and/or adhesion of microorganisms on contact. In addition, the new antibacterial materials should be durable, with no release of toxic agents into the environment. Among the objectives of this proposal we mention the development of a class of organic polydentate ligands of the quaternary pyridinium salts and azoles type, which will be coupled to various monovalent silver salts, and the coordination polymers thus obtained will be subject to antibacterial and/or antifungal activity tests, expecting to reach a higher activity than the starting reagents. After running the antimicrobial tests, the best candidates will then be incorporated into the cellulosic matrices from paper, and the new composite materials thus obtained will be investigated for their application as functional ecofriendly materials. The new antimicrobial composite materials will produce a significant impact at both national and global level, especially as green alternatives to human health. Protecting, for example, the great variety of food packagings which the human permanently enters in contact with is an extremely important sector in the life of any human society.