PREPARATION OF POLYSTYRENE BEADS CONTAINING SULFONAMIDE GROUPS AND THEIR APPLICATION TO POLYMERIC BIOCIDES

Abstract

A novel series of polystyrene (PS) beads containing various sulfonamide groups was prepared, and their chemical stabilities in an aqueous solution were tested in order to determine their ability to inactivate microbes. By reacting aminomethyl polystyrene (AM PS) beads or carboxy polystyrene beads with various benzenesulfonic acid derivatives, the sulfonamide groups were introduced on the PS beads. The characteristics of the product beads were analyzed by elementary analysis after the substitution of various sulfonamide groups. Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), and FT-IR analysis were used to analyze the elemental functional group composition, respectively. The hydrolytic stabilities of the PS beads containing various sulfonamide groups along with the relationship between the swelling ratio and their hydrophilicity were investigated. The antibacterial activity of the beads was determined by their ability to inactivate E. coli. This study reports that PS beads containing sulfonamide groups had lasting antibacterial efficacy over a satisfactory period, whilst maintaining their chemical stabilities against hydrolysis. The 8 synthesized polymer beads exhibited antibacterial ability.