Quaternarized cationic poly[(vinyl chloride)‐co‐(vinyl chloroacetate)] binary copolymer as non‐migration antibacterial additive in PVC matrix

Abstract

AbstractAntibacterial polyvinyl chloride (PVC) materials have drawn considerable attention since their wide application in medical devices. The objective of this study is to develop a novel quaternary ammonium cationic vinyl chloride copolymer, which can be potentially used as antibacterial additive in PVC matrix. Initially, the low average‐number molecular weight poly[(vinyl chloride)‐co‐(vinyl chloroacetate)] (PVC‐co‐PVCA) is synthesized by precipitation copolymerization. Subsequently, quaternary ammonium cationic moieties with different lengths of alkyl chains are introduced into the copolymers via quaternization reaction between alkyl‐dimethyl tertiary amines with acyl chloride groups. The successful synthesis of PVC‐co‐PVCA and quaternarized copolymers are carefully confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), and x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The antibacterial behaviors of the quaternarized copolymers and its blends with PVC are investigated. The results reveal that all the PVC blends containing at least 5% by weight of quaternarized copolymer have superior bacteriostasis ratio (>99.6%) against both Escherichia coli (E.coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) due to the incorporation of quaternary ammonium groups. Meanwhile, the cationic copolymer exhibits excellent antifouling and much lower migration rate (<0.4%). These interesting consequences endow the quaternarized copolymers as alternative antibacterial agents possess a great deal of potential for use in PVC materials.