PHYSICO-CHEMICAL AND BACTERICIDAL PROPERTIES OF COPPER-CONTAINING COMPOSITES BASED ON MALEINATE COMPLEXES Cu+.

The results of the study of the effect of water and oxygen on copper-containing composites [Cu(HM)(H₂O)]· x Cu^O are presented in the paper. Composites were products of reduction of Cu₂⁺-ions by zinc in the presence of maleic acid (H₂M). The effect of these composites' suspensions on bacteria strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis has been studied as well. It was found that the composites [Cu(HM)(H₂O)]xCu0 contain copper maleate complexes of two modifications: mononuclear [Cu(HM)(H₂O)] and binuclear [Cu(HM)(H₂O)]Cu0. [Cu(HM)(H₂O)] complex is the soluble form as a result of its significantly higher hydrophilicity. This complex is also the main bioactive component, which is proved by the fact that the antibacterial effect of the composites on staphylococcus strains changes synchronously with the change of their solubility in the x-interval from 0 to 1. The absence of atomic copper π-complexes [Cu(H₂M)(H₂O)] in composites with x > 1 leads to a sharp decrease in their bactericidal activity. Last fact confirms the conclusion about the nature of the bioactive substance and indicates that bioactive metal nanodispersion does not formed in composites concentrated by copper atoms. It was shown that the optimal composition of the copper-containing composite corresponds to the formula [Cu(HM)(H₂O)] 0.5Cu0. This substance has a sufficiently high level of bactericidal activity but it is highly resistant to the oxidation by atmospheric oxygen in combination with water unlike [Cu(HM(H₂O)] complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]