Novel epoxy-based biocidal composite material filled with polylactide-capsulated copper (I) oxide particles

Abstract To maintain performance of polymer composite materials (PCM) in tropical climate, it is necessary and relevant to deal with biodegradation among other factors. Increasing strength and improvement of biodegradation resistance of polymer composites simultaneously is a critical practical challenge. State-of-the-art methods of polymer composites production do not provide a possibility to address both issues at the same time. In this study, it is the first time when a method to increase strength of ED-20 epoxy-based polymer composite and improve its biodegradation resistance simultaneously is applied. In this study, the authors applied for the first time polylactide-capsulated copper oxide particles to improve biocidal and mechanical performance of ED-20 epoxy-based polymer composite. It was established that composite filled with capsulated particles has better resistance to micromycete-induced damage compared to the one filled with non-capsulated particles. Reduction of surface area affected by micromycetes isolated from samples exposed to tropical conditions was demonstrated for the composite that contained capsulated particles. The paper highlights that prevalence of Aspergillus niger is based on the high productivity of organic acids. It was found that elasticity moduli of polymer composite samples do not have significant differences. The average elasticity modulus of PCM samples was 3.4 ± 0.2 GPa before and after exposure to tropical conditions. Apparently, the thing that elasticity modulus remained the same after exposure to tropical conditions was due to the fact that only surface of the sample was subject to destruc-tion. The samples with non-capsulated particles experienced 20% decrease in ultimate strength after exposure to tropi-cal conditions while the samples with capsulated particles experienced only 10% decrease, so the material with capsu-lated particles was stronger. The fact that the elastic moduli of samples with capsulated particles remain the same after exposure to the microbial destructors indicates improved resistance of new PCM to biodegradation and confirms prom-ising practical application of the created material. Thus, this article is the first one to demonstrate that application of polylactide-capsulated copper oxide particles in combination with ED-20 epoxy-based polymer provides a possibility to obtain a new composite with improved biocidal effect