Protecting Plastics Against Attack by Microorganisms

In addition, additives with fungicide and bactericide properties are available, see Section 3.5. 

With contributions by Prof. H.J. Entires and Dr. A. Siebert-Raths, University of Applied Sciences, Hanover, Germany 

The concept of biopolymers as biodegradable plastics has become a buzz topic. It is increasingly heard in the media, politics, industry (in research and development in particular), and at numerous meetings of experts. While the term has become widely used, it has yet to be precisely defined. 

By contrast with green biotechnology (agriculture) and red (pharmaceutical) biotechnology, the notion of a white biotechnology is still rather new. Even though 

The term bio-compatible generally designates materials that neither interact with nor have any negative effect on organisms they are in contact with. However, such materials are not necessarily biopolymers, e.g., medical thread or polylactide-based implants. Similarly, bio-inert materiais can also be bio-compatible, because their interaction with human tissue is minimai, e.g., ceramic and titanium-based implants or siloxanes, as well as special plastics (e.g., certain PEEK, PET, or PE-UHMW types) [932]. 

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