Cationic copolymer Sweetsop-shape nanospheres conjugating SalPhen-Zinc complex for excellent antimicrobial

Abstract

The occurrence of pathogenic infections, including fungi and bacteria, are easy to cause extremely serious consequences, such as fatal diseases, crop failure. It is a challenge for exploring novel antibacterial materials around the world because of its necessity and importance. In this study, a typical antibacterial metal complex, SalPhen zinc complex (SalPZn), was conjugated with another kind of antibacterial copolymer sweetsop-shape nanospheres (PSNs) by in-situ copolymerization in aqueous solution. The obtained PSNs conjugating SalPZn (SalPZn@PSNs) was constructed by double antibacterial centers. Its structure, composition and properties were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and ICP Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS). The antibacterial activity of SalPZn@PSNs was evaluated against the typical human pathogens Escherichia coli (E. coli, gram-negative), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus, gram-positive), and Valsa mali (V. mali), a typical apple saprophytic fungi. It indicated that SalPZn@PSNs not only presented an excellent antibacterial activity but also have the broad-spectrum antibacterial activity, and further expands its application range. The synergistic antibacterial mechanism was investigated. In summary, a novel antibacterial polymer material with double active centers was successfully synthesized and expected to be applied in agriculture and medicine.