Antimicrobial Coatings Based on Linseed Oil/TiO(2) Nanocomposites

Linseed oil is a cheap, biodegradable, and nontoxic vegetable oil with antimicrobial properties, which has recently attained a lot of interest for the manufacturing of coatings, surfactants, soaps cosmetic products, lubricants, and so forth. Titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) is an important semiconductor material frequently employed in foods, cosmetics, paints, coatings, food packaging materials, optical devices, and particularly, antimicrobials due to its strong photocatalytic disinfection ability. This chapter describes the preparation and characterization of acrylated epoxidized linseed oil nanocomposite coatings reinforced with TiO(2) nanoparticles. The effect of TiO(2) loading on the morphology, barrier, thermal, mechanical, tribological, and antibacterial performance of the coatings is summarized. The coatings exhibit antimicrobial activity against gram-negative Escherichia coli and gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus bacteria even in the absence of UV light, and the bactericidal effect increases with the TiO(2) loading. These nanocomposite coatings could be used to prevent microbial proliferation in public places with high risk of infections such as hospitals.