Development of latex/zinc oxide compounds with antibacterial properties for applications in biomedical engineering

Natural rubber latex (NRL)—a polymer extracted from the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis)—has been used in multiple biomedical applications but does not have antibacterial properties. In this work, ZnO nanoparticles with two different morphologies were synthesized and added to NRL at different concentrations in order to evaluate the antibacterial properties of the resulting compounds. The characterization results obtained by electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction showed nanoparticles with spherical (mean size 69 ± 17 nm) and sheet morphology (mean size 154 ± 46 nm) with Wurtzite crystalline phase for both nanomaterials, respectively. The results of antibacterial tests showed that both compounds are effective against E. coli, and the reduction in bacterial viability was 90.3% and 96.4% for sheets and spherical nanomaterials, respectively. In the case of S. aureus, bacterial viability was reduced in both cases. The greatest antibacterial activity was evidenced in the nanoparticles with spherical morphology.