Special issue: research article
Cationic antimicrobial copolymer poly (methylmethacrylate-co-PHMG) decontaminates water†
†
This article is published in Journal of Polymers for Advanced Technologies in the special issue on Advanced Functional Polymers for Medicine 2016, edited by Andreas Lendlein and Dirk W. Grijpma.
Abstract
Vinyl terminated poly hexamethylene guanidine hydrochloride (PHMG) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) were copolymerized and tested for surface antimicrobial activity. PHMG chains of molecular weight ~2000 were functionalized with vinyl end groups (PHMG–C = C) by reacting the PHMG amino end groups with 1,2-epoxy-9-decene, or glycidyl methacrylate. PHMG–C = C was copolymerized with MMA at 10% w/w ratio to form water insoluble poly(MMA-co-PHMG). Films of these copolymers demonstrated strong antimicrobial activity for 3 months against Escherichia coli and heterotrophic plate count bacteria. The synthesized PHMG–MMA copolymers may be used for self-sterilizing coatings and water decontamination. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
