Development of an antibacterial polypropylene/polyurethane composite membrane for invisible orthodontics application

Feng Yang; Chenyi Wu; Yuanzhang Jiang; Lin Tan; Rui Shu

doi:10.3389/fbioe.2023.1233398

Development of an antibacterial polypropylene/polyurethane composite membrane for invisible orthodontics application

Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2023 Jul 7:11:1233398. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2023.1233398. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Feng Yang^{1

2

3}, Chenyi Wu¹, Yuanzhang Jiang^{2

3}, Lin Tan^{2

3}, Rui Shu¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, West China School of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, College of Biomass Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
³ Research Center for Fiber Science and Engineering Technology, Yibin Institute of Industrial Technology, Sichuan University, Yibin, China.

Abstract

In virtue of the advantages, such as aesthetics, designability, convenient removal, and comfortable experience, invisible orthodontics (IO) have been widely recognized and accepted by the public. However, most of the membranes currently used for IO only meet the requirement of shape retention. Other vital functions, like antibacterial and antifouling activities, are neglected. Herein, antibacterial composite membranes (ACMs) containing polypropylene (PP), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and poly (hexamethylene guanidine) hydrochloride-sodium stearate (PHMG-SS) were facilely manufactured through the hot-pressing membrane forming technology. ACMs were conferred with favorable transparency (∼70% in the visible light range) and excellent antibacterial ability. Experiment results demonstrated that bactericidal rates of ACMs against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Streptococcus mutans were larger than 99.99%. Noticeably, the amount of protein adhered on the surface of ACMs was only 28.1 μg/cm², showing ideal antifouling performance. Collectively, the mutifunctional ACMs in the study are expected to be prominent alternatives for existing IO.

Keywords: antibacterial; antibiofilm; antifouling; invisible orthodontics; membrane.

Grants and funding

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52073186), Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province (2023NSFSC0569), and Clinical Research Project of West China School of Stomatology (21H1161, 21H0900, and 22Z0075).