Fabrication and properties of antimicrobial flexible nanocomposite polyurethane foams with in situ generated copper nanoparticles

Antibacterial materials are preferable for water treatment a medical applications. In the present study, to improve the antimicrobial performance of flexible polyurethane (PU) foams, copper nanoparticles were in situ generated. The Cu nanoparticles were formed on the surface of polyurethane cell walls with sizes of 100–130 nm, and exhibited high affinity with the PU matrix. Although the cell structure of the nanocomposite PU foams was not greatly influenced, the open cell content decreased slightly from 97.42 to 96.64%. The bound metal nanoparticles on the cell walls could strengthen the cell skeleton improved the mechanical strength of the resulting foams. The mechanical parameters were dramatically improved, such as tensile and compressive strength of the nanocomposite PUs were improved from 78.1 to 94.2 kPa and from 3.80 to 5.63 kPa, respectively. Besides, these nanocomposite foams showed great antibacterial activity that can be considered for antibacterial applications in water treatment and medical fields.