Antimicrobial elastomeric articles

摘要

The present invention relates generally to methods of preparing antimicrobial elastomeric articles that include an elastomeric article having an antimicrobial coating provided thereon. The antimicrobial elastomeric articles exhibit enhanced ability to reduce or eliminate microbes that come in contact with the article. Certain aspects of the invention are further directed to methods of packaging the antimicrobial elastomeric articles, where the packaged antimicrobial articles exhibit antimicrobial effectiveness for an extended period of time as compared to unpackaged antimicrobial articles. Antimicrobial elastomeric articles and packaged antimicrobial elastomeric articles prepared in accordance with the methods of the present invention are also provided.

主权项

1. A method for preparing an antimicrobial elastomeric article, comprising:
exposing an elastomeric article to an environment comprising about 10.3 g/m3 or less absolute humidity; coating the elastomeric article with an antimicrobial coating composition to form an antimicrobial elastomeric article; exposing the antimicrobial elastomeric article to an environment comprising about 10.3 g/m3 or less absolute humidity; and packaging the antimicrobial elastomeric article in a packaging system that does not comprise a desiccant selected from the group consisting of silica gel, aerogel, bentonite clay, activated alumina, nitrogen gas, and argon gas; wherein the antimicrobial elastomeric article, when aged in the packaging system for 7 days at 70°C., has an antimicrobial efficacy such that the number of microorganisms present on a surface of the antimicrobial elastomeric article is reduced by at least 4 log10 within 5 minutes.