Abstract
Herein, efficient antimicrobial porous surfaces were prepared by breath figures approach from polymer solutions containing low content of block copolymers with high positive charge density. In brief, those block copolymers, which were used as additives, are composed of a polystyrene segment and a large antimicrobial block bearing flexible side chain with 1,3-thiazolium and 1,2,3-triazolium groups, PS54-b-PTTBM-M44, PS54-b-PTTBM-B44, having different alkyl groups, methyl or butyl, respectively. The antimicrobial block copolymers were blended with commercial polystyrene in very low proportions, from 3 to 9 wt %, and solubilized in THF. From these solutions, ordered porous films functionalized with antimicrobial cationic copolymers were fabricated, and the influence of alkylating agent and the amount of copolymer in the blend was investigated. Narrow pore size distribution was obtained for all the samples with pore diameters between 5 and 11 µm. The size of the pore decreased as the hydrophilicity of the system increased; thus, either as the content of copolymer was augmented in the blend or as the copolymers were quaternized with methyl iodide. The resulting porous polystyrene surfaces functionalized with low content of antimicrobial copolymers exhibited remarkable antibacterial efficiencies against Gram positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida parapsilosis fungi as microbial models.
Highlights
Healthcare-associated infections are a major problem nowadays, causing high morbidity and mortality rates and substantial increase in health care costs
Prescription of antibiotics is typically used as a prevention method and/or treatment to avoid such transmissions of nosocomial pathogens; antibiotic consumption is a primary cause of antibiotic resistance [1], and there is an urgent need for alternatives, as well as strategies to prevent healthcare-acquired infections [2]
It has to be mentioned that the cationic copolymers PS54 -b-PTTBM-R44 are not soluble in the common organic solvents typically used in the breath figures approach, such as CS2 and chloroform
Summary
Healthcare-associated infections are a major problem nowadays, causing high morbidity and mortality rates and substantial increase in health care costs. We prepared porous films by a breath figures approach functionalized with high charge density by the incorporation of antimicrobial cationic polymers bearing two quaternary ammonium groups per monomeric unit. These structures are based on methacrylic monomers with 1,3-thiazolium and 1,2,3-triazolium side-chain groups, and have demonstrated a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity in solution [31,32], and when immobilized onto a surface [16,33]. It is well known that surface positive charge density is an important parameter for defining antimicrobial efficiency [33,34], and the incorporation of polymers with high charge density as blend component will enhance the biocidal activity of the microstructured surfaces, maintaining the physicochemical properties of the resulting coating
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