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US-12617929-B2 - Use of materials incorporating microparticles for avoiding the proliferation of contaminants

US12617929B2US 12617929 B2US12617929 B2US 12617929B2US-12617929-B2

Abstract

A solid material including a matrix, dispersed in which are microparticles of at least one antimicrobial agent for preventing, limiting and/or eliminating the contamination of the material and/or the contamination of a composition which is in contact with the material for at least a given time, and/or preventing, eliminating and/or slowing down the formation of biofilms on the surface of the material, wherein the antimicrobial agent is an oxide of at least one positively charged metal ion and the antimicrobial agent does not migrate out of the material. Also, the use of such material for manufacturing an article, to the process for manufacturing the article, and to the article obtained. In particular, the article is selected from stoppers, lids, seals, caps, covers, plugs and valves intended for sealing bottles, flasks, jars, cans, canisters, barrels, tanks, or various containers used for packaging and/or storing food products, dietetic products, cosmetic products, dermatological products or pharmaceutical products.

Inventors

  • Loic MARCHIN

Assignees

  • PYLOTE

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20230622
Priority Date
20140625

Claims (7)

  1. 1 . A method for preventing, limiting and/or eliminating contamination of a solid material, and/or contamination of a composition that is in contact with said solid material, for at least a given time, and/or for preventing, suppressing and or slowing-down biofilm formation on a surface of the said solid material, comprising forming a solid material comprising a matrix and a set of individualized microparticles uniformly distributed within the matrix comprising or consisting of at least one antimicrobial agent, wherein the antimicrobial agent is a bactericidal or bacteriostatic agent which is an oxide of at least one positively charged metal ion and where the antimicrobial agent does not migrate out of the solid material, and wherein: the microparticles have a mean diameter between 0.5 micrometres and 5 micrometres, determined by microscopy; said microparticles have specific areas greater than or equal to 15 m 2 /g, as measured according to the BET method; at least 80% of the microparticles in the set have a sphericity coefficient of 0.85 or more, and at least 90% of the microparticles in the set have a sphericity coefficient of 0.75 or more; the concentration of said microparticles is 0.1 to 10%, by weight, based on the weight of the matrix and particles; the individualized microparticles are formed of at least two crystallites and are not composed of an aggregate of several smaller particles; and the individualized microparticles are non-aggregated within the matrix.
  2. 2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the concentration of the microparticles is 0.1 to 5%, or 0.5 to 3%, or 1 to 3%, by weight, based on the weight of the matrix and particles.
  3. 3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the microparticles comprise zinc oxide or are constituted of zinc oxide (ZnO), or comprise magnesium oxide or are constituted of magnesium oxide (MgO), or a mixture of magnesium oxide and zinc oxide.
  4. 4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the microparticles are selected from ZnO microparticles, microparticles of ZnO doped with sodium or aluminium, and mesostructured microparticles comprising ZnO.
  5. 5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the matrix is a polymeric matrix.
  6. 6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the polymer matrix is a thermoplastic matrix polymer selected from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer, cellulose acetate, polystyrene, especially expanded polystyrene, polyamides, poly(butylene terephthalate), the polycarbonates, polyethylene, poly(ethylene terephthalate), poly(methyl methacrylate), polyformaldehyde, polypropylene, poly(vinyl acetate), poly(vinyl chloride), poly(lactic acid) (PLA), polycaprolactone, polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), polysaccharides and the copolymer styrene-acrylonitrile.
  7. 7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the composition is physiologically acceptable to a mammal and is selected from a food composition, a dietary composition, a cosmetic composition, a dermatological composition or a pharmaceutical composition.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 15/319,144, filed on Dec. 15, 2016, which is the National Phase under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Application No. PCT/FR2015/051730, filed on Jun. 25, 2015, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to Patent Application No. 1455871, filed in France on Jun. 25, 2014, all of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference into the present application. INTRODUCTION The present application relates to the use of a solid material comprising a matrix in which microparticles are dispersed, where the said particles have an antimicrobial effect. The application also relates to the use of the said material for the manufacture of an article, the method of manufacture of the said article, and the article that is obtained. TECHNICAL FIELD Repeatedly used compositions, in particular, those for cosmetic or pharmaceutical products, are subject to contamination risks as a result of their exposure to: ambient air, and/or a means of application (an applicator, a finger, etc.), and/or the organ for which the composition is intended (for example, eye drops for an eye). Packaging, containers and/or delivery devices for such compositions may also be susceptible to contamination. To prevent and/or slow down the contamination of compositions, the structure of the packaging, containers or delivery devices used for such compositions is generally designed to isolate the uncontaminated part of the composition from the part of the composition which is in contact with ambient air, a means of application, an organ, and/or any other potential source of contamination. Thus, the containers designed to contain compositions susceptible to be contaminated may include a physical means of sealing, such as closing caps, valves and/or membranes allowing the isolation of the two parts of the composition from each other. These containers require a specific and complicated manufacturing process, which increases the cost considerably. Moreover, even if such systems avoid the contamination of the part of the composition that has been isolated, they do not necessarily avoid the contamination of the part of the composition that is being delivered; for example, where a nozzle being used to deliver the composition is itself contaminated. Alternatively, the incorporation of organic or nanoscale antimicrobial agents in the materials that make up all, or parts of the packaging, containers, or delivery devices has also been explored. Thus, in particular, plastic matrices comprising silver nanoparticles (nano-silver), zinc oxide nanoparticles or triclosan (5-chloro-2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy) phenol), an organic biocide, have been used in packaging, containers or delivery devices for compositions susceptible to contamination. In particular, as a result of their size, these two types of agents (nano-objects and organic compounds) can migrate and diffuse to a significant extent from the matrix into the composition. Such migration is undesirable. On the one hand, this migration leads to “exhaustion” of the stock of antibacterial agent contained in the matrix, which means that a large amount of the agent must be incorporated to prevent the packaging, container, or dispenser device from losing its antibacterial properties. On the other, the potential or actual toxicity of organic antibacterial agents and nano-objects discourages the use of compositions that contain them, in particular, those to be used in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical sectors. Triclosan, in particular, has been identified as an endocrine disrupter in this respect. Zinc oxide nanoparticles, marketed as Zano® 20, by Umicore Zinc Chemicals are a typical example of the types of nanoparticles used for incorporation into plastic matrices. For compositions susceptible to contamination, it would be beneficial to have the option of packaging, containers and/or delivery devices that can prevent and/or slow the contamination of the parts of compositions that are not in direct contact with sources of contamination (retro-contamination), the contamination of parts to be delivered, the contamination of the packaging, and the contamination of containers and/or delivery devices, and also prevent the migration of any antimicrobial agents incorporated into the packaging, containers and/or delivery devices through compositions. These packaging materials, containers and/or delivery devices should preferably be of simple mechanical design, preferably identical to that used for compositions not susceptible to contamination, whose manufacture can be carried out simply and inexpensively. It is within this framework that the Applicant has demonstrated that the incorporation of specific microparticles into matrices, for example, polymeric matrices, allows antimicrobial properties to be imparted to the materials obtained, without the antimicrobial agents being able to migrate beyond the exterior of the material it