Thymol and Carvacrol: Phenolic Monoterpenes Extracted from the Essential Oil of Thymus vulgaris as Natural Antimicrobial Guests of Nanoporous Crystalline Syndiotactic Polystyrene Fibers

Thymol and carvacrol, relevant natural antimicrobial molecules, induce co‐crystallization and, in absence of any mechanical stretching, also high degrees of axial orientation on s‐PS amorphous fibers. The release of thymol and carvacrol from s‐PS co‐crystalline fibers has been analyzed to realize long‐term antimicrobial fabrics. Partition between isolated guest molecules, present in co‐crystalline phase or simply dissolved in the amorphous phase, has been investigated by FTIR and thermogravimetric measurements. These analyses have been confirmed by polarized FTIR spectra of axially oriented s‐PS films.