EP1611272A1 - Cellulosed molded article having a functional effect and method for producing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for producing cellulosed molded articles having a functional effect. The method is characterized by charging cellulosed fibers or films with incorporated ion exchangers having bactericidal metal ions and/or ionic pharmaceutical active substances in such a manner that a depot of these active substances is built up in the fiber. Said depot time-releases the active substances in the amount of the corresponding equivalent concentration when the fibers and films are used in aqueous solutions. The invention also relates to molded articles produced according to the inventive method.

Description

Cellulosic molded bodies with functional action and process for their preparation

The invention relates to a cellulosic molding and to a process for producing cellulosic moldings by the dry-wet extrusion process with improved and extended functional effects, in particular for use in medicine, hygiene, clothing, papermaking and the packaging industry.

The functional effect relates to a uniform and finely dosed bactericidal action, especially in wound dressings, sports and leisure clothing, hospital textiles, filter and packaging papers.

State of the art

It is known that heavy metal ions such. For example, silver, mercury, copper, zinc and zirconium ions have a killing or growth-inhibiting effect on microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and spores (Thurman et al., CRC Crit Rev. In Environ. Contr. 18 (4) , Pp. 295-315 (1989)). For a bactericidal effect, the silver ions are of particular interest. The decisive advantage of silver ions over other bactericidal metal ions, such. B. Hg ²⁺ , is the most insensitive human metabolism to silver. The bactericidal concentration is given as 0.01- 1 mg / L in silver (Ullman's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry (5th ed.), VCH 1993, Volume A 24, p. 160).

This effect of silver ions has long been used in a wide variety of applications. In the production of textile fibers silver is z. B. deposited galvanically on the surface of polyamide silk. The processing of electroplated polyamide silk on knitting and knitting machines is problematic, since at the Fadenleitorganen partially deposits the silver layer of the polyamide silk and thus leads to frequent machine downtime. Another known Possibility is the introduction of metallic silver, silver zeolite or silver glass ceramic in the fiber matrix of melt-spun fibers such as polypropylene fibers, polyester fibers and polyamide fibers (Taschenbuch fur den Textilindustrie 2003, Schiele & Schön Berlin, p. 124 ff).

The use of silver zeolite and silver glass ceramic has also been proposed for acrylic fibers. Cellulosic fibers with bacteriostatic or bactericidal properties are also on the market. By incorporating triclosan (2,4,4-trichloro (II) hydroxyphenyl ether) into cellulosic fibers, a permanent bacteriostatic fiber is obtained (ITB International Textile Bulletin 3/2002). This substance is effective against bacteria commonly found on the skin, including pathogenic Staphylococcus species.

In DE 10 140772 a process for the production of cellulosic moldings with incorporated algae is described. The moldings are capable of adsorbing metals from heavy metal-containing media. The heavy metal loaded moldings can be used as antibacterial and / or fungicidal material. The content of adsorbed heavy metals in these cellulosic moldings is at least about 70 mg / kg, based on the total weight of the cellulosic molding.

It is further stated that by dipping a fiber having a brown algae content, based on the weight of the fiber, of 11.39 mass% into a 0.05 M AgN0 ₃ solution, a silver content of 1855 mg / kg fiber was achieved. Since algae are natural products, the relatively limited binding capacities for heavy metals vary. Different binding mechanisms such as ion exchange, complexation and other unknown reactions play a role in the binding of heavy metals to algae. The binding of heavy metals to the algae is therefore unspecific. Another disadvantage of this fiber is that they can only use cations for a bactericidal effect and no bactericidal anions such. B. benzoic acid and sorbic acid.

Object of the invention The invention has for its object to provide a cellulosic molded body and a method for the production of cellulosic moldings having a functional effect, especially for use in medicine, hygiene and clothing, which shows a bactericidal effect and this particular connects with the advantages of a breathable garment. Another object is to provide the active ingredients in a textile depot and to ensure a sufficient release of these substances from the depot over time. The drug concentration to be delivered should be controllable. Furthermore, the shaped bodies produced by the process according to the invention, in particular fibers and films, are to be created in such a way that they are suitable for production as wound dressings, patches, hygiene articles, textiles, specialty papers and as packaging material due to their high adsorption capacity. Finally, composites of mixtures with other fibers should be produced.

Further advantages will become apparent from the following description.

This object is achieved according to the invention in the process mentioned above by loading cellulosic moldings spun by the dry-wet extrusion process and incorporating incorporated ion exchanger loaded with cationic or anionic active ingredients. Surprisingly, it has been found that the binding capacity for the active substances mentioned depends crucially on the degree of crosslinking of the ion exchangers. Thus, the binding capacity for cationic active ingredients, such as __. For example, silver can be more than doubled using polyacrylates that have been lightly crosslinked with a multifunctional crosslinker.

Weakly crosslinked ion exchangers for the purposes of the present invention are ion exchangers which are provided with a reduced proportion of crosslinking agents. Conventional ion exchange resins have a crosslinker content of 4 to 12% by weight, based on the mass of the exchange resin. Weakly crosslinked ion exchangers for the purposes of the present invention have a crosslinker content of 0.1 to 2.0% by weight, preferably 0.3 to 1.5% by weight, more preferably 0.5 to 1.2% by weight. Weakly crosslinked ion exchange resins are also characterized by the fact that they swell very strongly in aqueous solutions. Conventional ion exchange resins with the abovementioned crosslinker components have only low degrees of swelling.

The fibers produced with incorporated weakly crosslinked cation exchangers exceed with their binding capacity for silver ions that of the brown algae according to DE 10 140 772 by up to 28 times. It is thus given the opportunity to produce fibers or films, the z. B. can be highly loaded with cationic bactericidal agents such as silver ions. A fiber with 15% by mass of incorporated weakly crosslinked cation exchanger can be loaded with about 80 g of silver. Silver loading of the fiber with> 100 g Ag / kg fiber is possible with a corresponding increase in the mass fraction of the incorporated weakly crosslinked cation exchanger.

These fibers can then be prepared by mixing with other fibers, such as. As cotton or synthetic fibers are brought to desired levels of silver in the yarn to be produced. This procedure allows a very economical production of bactericidal yarns.

The incorporation of ion exchangers, however, leads to an adverse effect on the textile-physical parameters such as strength, elongation and Schiingenfestigkeit with increasing proportion in the fiber. In particular, strength and loop strength are reduced as the proportion of incorporated ion exchanger in the fiber increases.

It is therefore also of economic interest to produce silver-loaded fibers which, in their textile-physical properties, such as strength and sheeting resistance, are close to the properties of fibers containing no incorporated ion exchangers.

With the present invention, it is possible to provide fibers which have a sufficient content in terms of the silver content per fiber to a sufficient level show bactericidal effect, but show no disadvantages in terms of textile-physical parameters. According to the invention, from 0.5 to 1.5 mass%, based on the cellulosic mass of the fiber, of 5000 to 10,000 mg Ag / kg fiber of incorporated weakly crosslinked cation exchanger can be bound to the fiber. Such fibers show a completely sufficient bactericidal action in the hitherto known fields of use and are equal in their textile-physical values to unmodified fibers. The processing of these fibers and yarns made from them is possible on all textile machines.

If, instead of the weakly crosslinked cation exchanger, ion exchangers based on carboxyl groups bonded to acrylic acid-divinylbenzene copolymer or the chelate-forming iminodiacetic acid bound to styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer are used, as described in DE 19 917 614, fibers are obtained which are bactericidal activity are comparable. However, the absorption capacity for silver ions is less than 50% of the aforementioned weakly crosslinked cation exchangers.

A measure of the expected bactericidal effect of the fibers or yarns is the equilibrium concentration of the active ingredients in aqueous solutions such. B. the silver ions.

For this purpose, loaded with silver ions fibers or yarns are placed in distilled water at a temperature of 20 ° C and measured the equilibrium concentration of the silver ions after 24 h. Table 1 shows the equilibrium concentrations of silver ions and the loading of the fibers with silver using weakly crosslinked cation exchangers and known divinylbenzene crosslinked ion exchangers. It can be seen that the equilibrium concentration of silver ions is above the concentration required for a bactericidal effect of 0.01-1 mg / l. The equilibrium concentration can be adjusted by blending with other fibers to the required concentration.

Table 1:

As can be seen from Table 1, the equilibrium concentration necessary for the antimicrobial effect is obtained with the fibers according to the invention, with a simultaneous higher Ag content of the fiber. The advantages of this are obvious.

In the application of the fibers, the free Ag ions are stably discharged, whereby the equilibrium concentration is maintained over time by the Ag deposited in the fiber. Due to the increased depot effect of the fibers according to the invention thus the equilibrium concentration can be maintained over an increased period.

If a weakly crosslinked cation exchanger and a strongly basic anion exchanger based on styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer with trialkylammonium groups in chloride form are incorporated into the fiber, then the fibers can be loaded with cation-active and anionically active bactericidal ions, such as, for example, B. with silver ions and benzoic acid or sorbic acid.

This makes it possible, in addition to the use of silver ions, the anionic active ingredients such. B. benzoic acid and sorbic acid. Their toxicological safety is proven in many works and therefore they are approved for direct use in food (Wallhäußer, sterilization, disinfection, preservation (4th ed.), Thieme 1988, p. 396). The processing of such finished fibers in papermaking or produced films leads to antimicrobial active packaging for food. The medical application of these functionalized with cationic active ingredients fibers are possible. So these fibers can be active ingredients such. B. Nicotine bind. The fibers may be processed in the form of patches and used as transdermal therapeutic systems.

The loading of the functionalized fibers may conveniently be done by dipping in a solution with the appropriate ions. Diving can be done both in batch mode and continuously. In continuous dipping, preferably the cut fiber is loaded in a separate bath in the after-treatment.

To further illustrate the invention and its essential characteristics, the following examples serve:

example 1

A 12% by mass cellulose solution in N-methylmorpholine N-oxide monohydrate is a powdered weakly crosslinked cation exchanger based on a crosslinked copolymer of acrylic acid and sodium with a particle size <10 microns in a weight fraction of 15% by mass to a cellulose content added. This spinning solution is homogenized in a kneader and spun at a temperature of about 90 ° C through a spinneret with 480 holes and a nozzle hole diameter of 80 microns. The take-off speed is 30 m / min. The multifilament yarn is passed through several washing baths to leach the N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide. The fibers are spun off and loaded with 10 liters of a 0.1 M silver nitrate solution per kg of fiber material. After loading, the fibers are spun and washed free from adhering silver nitrate. Subsequently, the fibers are dried at about 80 ° C.

Table 2:

Fineness dtex 0.7

Fineness-based tensile strength dry cN / tex 22.5 Elongation dry% 14.8

Fineness-related loop tear force cN / tex 7,5

Silver content g / kg fiber 80

Table 2 shows the fiber parameters and the silver content of the fiber. Such a highly loaded fiber has the advantage that by blending the fiber with other textile fibers such. B. cotton very economical silver-containing yarns can be produced. At a content of about 5000 mg Ag / kg of yarn, the silver fiber can be cut 16 times.

Yarns produced in this way can be processed very well on knitting and knitting machines, in contrast to galvanized polyamide threads.

Example 2 Fibers are spun according to Example 1 with a titer of 0.17 tex and a content of weakly crosslinked cation exchanger of 6% by mass, based on the cellulose content. These fibers are loaded according to Example 1 with silver ions. The fiber parameters are listed in Table 3.

Example 3 Fibers are produced according to Example 1 with a titer of 0.5 tex and a content of weakly crosslinked cation exchanger of 0.5% by mass, based on the cellulose content. The loading with silver ions is carried out analogously to Example 1. The fiber parameters are shown in Table 3. In Table 3, a fiber without a weakly crosslinked cation exchanger was included for comparison.

Table 3:

It can be seen from Examples 1 to 3 that the silver content on the fiber can be adjusted within wide limits with the content of the weakly crosslinked cation exchanger. Even with 0.5% by mass, a high silver content can still be achieved. The influence of 0.5% by mass of the weakly crosslinked cation exchanger on the textile fiber parameters is insignificant.

Example 4 (Comparative Example) To a cellulose mash in 60% aqueous N-methylmorpholine N-oxide is added an aqueous suspension of a weakly acidic macroporous cation exchanger based on a styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer with chelating iminodiacetic acid groups in such a concentration that the Spun fibers contain a content of 6% by mass based on the cellulose content. The fibers are washed after spinning and loaded as described in Example 1 with silver ions. Table 4 contains the fiber parameters.

Table 4:

Example 5 (Comparative Example)

Working analogously to Example 4 and gives the mash 6% by mass of a weak acid macroporous cation exchanger based on crosslinked polyacrylate in the sodium form, so that in the spun fiber 6% by mass related ion exchanger are included in the cellulose content, this fiber washes and charged with silver ions as described in Example 1, to give a fiber with 13.6 g Ag / kg fiber. It is surprisingly clear from example 5 that the polyacrylate-based ion exchanger absorbs less than half of silver ions than the slightly crosslinked polyacrylate-based cation exchanger. Increasing the binding capacity by more than 100% brings significant technological and economic advantages in that the small particles of weakly crosslinked cation exchangers in the fiber hardly affect the textile-physical parameters, and on the other hand by the high uptake of silver ions by blending with other fibers can be worked economically.

Example 6 Fibers with weakly crosslinked cation exchangers as well as conventional prior art ion exchanges prepared according to Examples 1 to 5 were loaded with silver, cupric and zinc ions. The results are shown in Table 5.

Table 5:

Fibers loaded with copper ions, silver ions or with a combination of silver and zinc ions can be used as bactericidal fibers.

Example 7 To a 11% by mass cellulose solution in N-methylmorpholine N-oxide monohydrate is added a suspension of a weakly crosslinked cation exchanger based on a crosslinked copolymer of acrylic acid and sodium acrylate and a strong base anion exchanger based on a styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer with trialkylammonium groups in chloride form in 85% N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide in such a concentration that the spinning solution 11 % By mass of cellulose and, based on the cellulose content, 8% by mass of the weakly crosslinked cation exchanger and 8% by mass of the anion exchanger. After homogenization, the spinning solution according to Example 1 is spun with a titer of 0.5 tex. The fibers have a tenacity of 26.3 cN / tex, an elongation of 12.1% and a fineness-related loop tearing force of 8.6 cN / tex.

The silver loading is 52.4 g silver / kg fiber and the loading with benzoate is 16.6 g benzoate / kg fiber. These fibers have a very strong bactericidal action. The example demonstrates the suitability of the fibers of the present invention for combined use with prior art anion exchange and cation exchange loaded fibers.

Example 8 Inventive ion exchanger fibers or films with incorporated cation exchangers prepared according to Example 2 are loaded with nicotine. The loaded fibers or films are washed and dried. These fibers or films can be processed into textile depots and used as transdermal therapeutic systems.

Example 9

Fibers prepared according to Example 1 were tested for their bactericidal action in accordance with the European Pharmacopaeia (EP 2002), Chapter 2.6.12, Bioburden determination.

Papers containing fibers according to Example 1 were tested in an amount such that a gradation of the silver contents in the paper was 190 mg Ag / kg, 760 mg Ag / kg and 3800 mg Ag / kg paper. The test was carried out on the following microorganisms (Tables 6 - 9): Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027 Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 Bacillus subtilis spores ATCC 6633 Fusarium solani spores ATCC 36031.

Table 6 - Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Table 9 - Bacillus subtilis spores

All measurement results of the germ counts in Tables 6 to 9 are subject to a measurement error of 10%. The comparative sample was a paper without silver-containing fibers. Dependencies of the microbicidal activity with regard to exposure time and concentration of the silver loading could be detected for all test germs. As expected, Bacillus subtilis spores showed the highest resistance. But even with these a lowering of the germs could be achieved.

Example 10 Fibers made according to Example 1 were spun with cotton into stocking yarn having a denier Nm 68/1 and a silver content of 1300 mg Ag / kg yarn. From this yarn, a knitted tube was made and tested for bactericidal action (sample 31444083). The test was carried out in accordance with SN195924. The test organism was Lactobacillus brevis DSM 20054. The control sample used was non-antimicrobial cotton fabric (Table 10). In each case 5 measurements were carried out on the basis of the same sample material and the control sample.

Table 10 - Results of the test of antibacterial activity in the germ carrier test on the test bacterium Lactobacillus brevis.

CFU = number of colony-forming units of the test bacterium AE = antimicrobial effect

Evaluation criteria: The 24-hour value of the growth control (control or standard tissue) must be at least two orders of magnitude above the initial value (AE <-2). An antimicrobial effect is given when a KBE value is at most 0.5 decimal logarithms above the mean of the zero-contact time CFU values, ie AE ₅₂₄ > -0.5.

The effect of antimicrobial equipment is given when at least 4 out of 5 CFU individual values of each contact time have antimicrobial activity for the test germ. According to the test results, these requirements are met by sample No .: 3144408: Knitting hose.

Claims

claims 1. A process for the preparation of cellulosic moldings having a functional effect, characterized in that one loads cellulosic fibers or films with incorporated ion exchangers with bactericidal metal ions and / or ionic pharmaceutical agents such that a depot of these active ingredients builds up in the fiber and this in the application of these fibers and films in aqueous solutions, which releases active ingredients over time in the amount of the respective equilibrium concentration again. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that weakly crosslinked ion exchangers are used, which swell in aqueous solutions. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that are used as metal ions silver ions. 4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that as metal ions further bactericidal metal ions are used, in particular copper, mercury, zirconium or zinc ions. 5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the ionic pharmaceutical active ingredients are anionic active ingredients, in particular benzoic acid or sorbic acid. 6. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the active ingredient concentration is in the range of 0.005 to> 100 g of active ingredient / kg of molding. 7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that mixing the loaded with active fibers fibers with textile fibers and processed into fabrics. 8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that the textile fibers are selected from the group comprising cotton, wool, polyester fibers, polyamide fibers, polyacrylic fibers, polypropylene fibers and cellulosic regenerated fibers. 9. Cellulosic molded body having a functional effect, characterized in that the ion exchangers are incorporated, wherein the ion exchanger is loaded with bactericidal metal ions and / or ionic pharmaceutical agents, and further that of the moldings the metal ions and / or active ingredients in aqueous solutions over time Gives the amount of the respective equilibrium concentration. 10. Cellulosic molded body according to claim 9, characterized in that the ion exchanger is a weakly crosslinked ion exchanger. 11. A cellulosic molding according to claim 9 or 10, characterized gekennzeichntet that the metal ions are at least partially silver ions. 12. A sheet comprising at least a proportion of cellulosic moldings according to one of claims 9 to 11 13. A fabric according to claim 12, characterized in that the fabric is a paper, a sausage casing or a non-woven pad.