Using high-intensity ultrasound, in situ generated α-amylase nanoparticles (NPs) were immobilized on polyethylene (PE) films. The α-amylase NP-coated PE films have been characterized by E-SEM, FTIR, DLS, XPS and RBS. The PE was reacted with HNO(3) and NPs of the α-amylase were also deposited on the activated PE. The PE impregnated with α-amylase (4 μg per 1mg PE) was used for hydrolyzing soluble potato starch to maltose. The immobilization improved the catalytic activity of α-amylase at all the reaction conditions studied. The kinetic parameters, K(m) (5 and 4 g L(-1) for the regular and activated PE, respectively) and V(max) (5 × 10(-7) mol ml(-1) min(-1), almost the same numbers were obtained for the regular and activated PEs) for the immobilized amylase were found to slightly favor the respective values obtained for the free enzyme (K(m) = 6.6 g L(-1), V(max) = 3.7 × 10(-7) mol ml(-1) min(-1)). The enzyme remained bound to PE even after soaking the PE in a starch solution for 72 h and was still found to be weakly active.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

The development of efficient synthetic strategies for incorporating antibacterial coatings into textiles for pharma and medical applications is of great interest. This paper describes the preparation of functional nonwoven fabrics coated with polyaniline (PANI) via in situ polymerization of aniline in aqueous solution. The effect of three different monomer concentrations on the level of polyaniline coating on the fibers comprising the fabrics, and its electrical resistivities and antibacterial attributes, were studied. Experimental results indicated that weight gains of 0.7 and 3.0 mg/cm2 of PANI were achieved. These levels of coatings led to the reduction of both volume and surface resistivities by several orders of magnitude for PANI-coated polyester-viscose fabrics, i.e., from 108 to 105 (Ω/cm) and from 109 to 105 Ω/square, respectively. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) confirmed the incorporation of PANI coating with an average thickness of 0.4–1.5 µm, while Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) demonstrated the preservation of the thermal stability of the pristine fabrics. The unique molecular structure of PANI, consisting of quaternary ammonium ions under acidic conditions, yielded an antibacterial effect in the modified fabrics. The results revealed that all types of PANI-coated fabrics totally killed S. aureus bacteria, while PANI-coated viscose fabrics also demonstrated 100% elimination of S. epidermidis bacteria. In addition, PANI-coated, PET-viscose and PET fabrics showed 2.5 log and 5.5 log reductions against S. epidermidis, respectively.