Novel process of incorporating silver biocides into polymers

Surface-centred microbial infestations have been implicated in nosocomial infections, food spoilage, spread of foodborne diseases and bio fouling of materials. Hence there is a growing commercial demand for biocidal plastic materials capable of killing microbes found on specialized and daily use surfaces e.g. medical devices & implants, hospital surfaces, food handling surfaces, door handles, refrigerators, clothing, toys, etc. Antimicrobial plastic products based on silver are finding ever increasing use in a variety of industrial, commercial, medical and institutional settings. We describe a simple method to incorporate nanophase silver into polymers to yield potent and long lasting antimicrobial materials.