Biofilm creation study on polymeric nanocomposites

Abstract

The dissertation thesis focuses on the problematic of biliary stents functional coating, which may play an essential role in the life prolongation of cancer patients with bile duct types of cancer tumors. The developed coating represents a polymeric nanocomposite thin film prepared via in-situ polymerization, re-polymerization and extrusion methods.

Prepared number of samples with different types of antimicrobial agents, clay particles and polymeric matrices is characterized by X-Ray diffraction, FT Infrared Spectroscopy, Differential scanning calorimetry, Scanning Electron and Atomic Force Microscopy techniques as well as tested on microbial activity via special microbiological techniques. The charecterization provides the data about stability, morphology and structure of the developed materials. Several “in-body simulation” experiments are performed such as bile salts simulation, real-time liquid flow biofilm growing and visualization of the effect of the selected nanocomposite sample on the growth. The results show the actual antimicrobial functionality of the developed materials in case of ciclopirox olamine, less in case of imidazole and clotrimazole antimicrobial agents. Molecular modeling was used to prove the thermodynamical stability, it showed that the system gets more stable with greater antitumoral drug amount. An attempt to experimentally prepare an antitumoral polymeric nanocomposite was made.