CHAPTER 12: Carbon-Based Polymer Nanocomposites: From Material Preparation to Antimicrobial Applications

The development of new methods to control or prevent bacterial contamination in medical devices is essential to the improvement of the quality of life. The discovery of new carbon-based nanomaterials (CBNs) (i.e. graphene, carbon nanotubes, and graphene oxide) with unique optical, thermal, and mechanical properties did not only provide avenues in the creation of new technologies for energy, sensing, electronics, and mechanical applications; but also enabled new routes towards addressing the emerging problems of bacterial contamination due to their recently reported biocidal properties. However, even with the many desirable properties that CBNs possess, their practical uses as an antimicrobial material have not been fully explored due to issues related to their dispersibility, difficulty for scalability, and relatively high cost. To circumvent these issues, the addition of polymers to fabricate carbon-based polymer nanocomposites (CBPNs) was explored. Various polymers have been incorporated with CBNs. These polymers were utilized as dispersing agents, linkers for antimicrobial compounds, and matrices for fibers and membranes. This chapter reviews the current investigations related to biocidal properties of CBPNs, outlines the different methods that are used for their preparation as films or solutions, and assesses their contribution for antimicrobial applications.