Hasan B. Kocer

N-halamine biocidal coatings via a layer-by-layer assembly technique.

Two N-halamine copolymer precursors, poly(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl methacrylate-co-acrylic acid potassium salt) and poly(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl methacrylate-co-trimethyl-2-methacryloxyethylammonium chloride) have been synthesized and successfully coated onto cotton fabric via a layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly technique. A multilayer thin film was deposited onto the fiber surfaces by alternative exposure to polyelectrolyte solutions. The coating was rendered biocidal by a dilute household bleach treatment. The biocidal efficacies of tested swatches composed of treated fibers were evaluated against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. It was determined that chlorinated samples inactivated both S. aureus and E. coli O157:H7 within 15 min of contact time, whereas the unchlorinated control samples did not exhibit significant biocidal activities. Stabilities of the coatings toward washing and ultraviolet light exposure have also been studied. It was found that the stability toward washing was superior, whereas the UVA light stability was moderate compared to previously studied N-halamine moieties. The layer-by-layer assembly technique can be used to attach N-halamine precursor polymers onto cellulose surfaces without using covalently bonding tethering groups which limit the structure designs. In addition, ionic precursors are very soluble in water, thus promising for biocidal coatings without the use of organic solvents.

Polymeric antimicrobial N-halamine epoxides.

A new N-halamine copolymer has been prepared, characterized, and evaluated for antimicrobial efficacy, stability toward hydrolyses, and stability toward UVA degradation when covalently bound to cellulose fibers. A copolymer of 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropylmethacrylate and glycidyl methacrylate was coated onto cotton, and, after curing, was treated with an aqueous solution containing the potassium salt of 5,5-dimethylhydantoin to form a coating which became antimicrobial upon exposure to househod bleach (sodium hypochlorite). The coating inactivated S. aureus and E. coli O157:H7 within minutes of contact time and was quite stable toward washing and UVA photodegradation.

N-halamine copolymers for use in antimicrobial paints.

A series of copolymers containing units of a novel hydantoinylacrylamide and the sodium salt of 2-(acrylamido)-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid have been synthesized. The homopolymer of the hydantoinylacrylamide compound was insoluble in water, while the copolymers with the sulfonic acid sodium salt were water-dispersible/soluble, with the solution becoming completely transparent when the feed ratio for the copolymer contained 7 parts of the hydantoin moiety to 3 parts of the sodium sulfonate moiety. The polymers were added into a commercial water-based latex paint, and upon drying, the painted surfaces treated with the water-miscible copolymers were rendered antimicrobial following chlorination with dilute household bleach. The chlorinated homopolymer failed to provide an antimicrobial property for the paint because of its tendency to isolate into aggregates in the paint, while the completely miscible copolymers were capable of 6-log inactivation of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli O157:H7 within 5 min of contact time.

Mechanism of photolytic decomposition of N-halamine antimicrobial siloxane coatings.

Generally, antimicrobial N-halamine siloxane coatings can be rehalogenated repetitively upon loss of their biocidal efficacies, a marked advantage over coatings containing other antimicrobial materials. However, the N-halamine materials tend to slowly decompose upon exposure to ultraviolet irradiation as in direct sunlight. In this work the mechanism of photolytic decomposition for the N-halamine siloxanes has been studied using spectroscopic and theoretical methods. It was found that the N-chlorinated coatings slowly decomposed upon UVA irradiation, whereas the unhalogenated coatings did not. Model compound evidence in this work suggests that upon UVA irradiation, the N-Cl bond dissociates homolytically, followed by a Cl radical migration to the alkyl side chain connected to the siloxane tethering group. An alpha and/or beta scission then occurs causing partial loss of the biocidal moiety from the surface of the coated material, thus precluding complete rechlorination. NMR, FTIR, GCMS, and computations at the DFT (U)B3LYP/6-311++G(2d,p) level of theory have been employed in reaching this conclusion.

Acyclic N-Halamine Polymeric Biocidal Films

Low concentrations of acyclic amide monomers, methacrylamide (MAM) and acrylamide (AM), were copolymerized with vinyl acetate (VAc). No significant differences between the synthesized copolymers and poly(VAc) were seen by 1H-NMR, FTIR, and DSC analysis. Biocidal films, formed by coating the copolymers onto polyester transparency slides and polyester fabric swatches, were chlorinated by exposure to sodium hypochlorite solutions. Both S. aureus and E. coli O157: H7 were completely inactivated within 1 min on the transparency slides and polyester fabric swatches derived from poly(VAc-co-MAM). The chlorine on the films was stable under UVA irradiation and the surfaces were rechargeable upon chlorine loss.

Inter- and intramolecular mechanisms for chlorine rearrangements in trimethyl-substituted N-chlorohydantoins.

The antimicrobial compounds 1-chloro-3,5,5-trimethylhydantoin and 3-chloro-1,5,5-trimethylhydantoin (1 and 2, respectively) have been synthesized and examined via a joint experimental and computational study. The measured rate of loss of oxidative chlorine in the absence and presence of exposure to UVA irradiation determined 2 to be less stable than 1. An interesting migration reaction was observed during UVA irradiation that featured the production of chlorine rearrangement and dechlorinated compounds. Two novel hydrogen atom transfer reaction (HATR) mechanisms have been proposed: (1) an intramolecular process in which a hydrogen atom undergoes a series of sigmatropic shifts, and (2) an intermolecular pathway in which a radical abstracts a hydrogen atom from a neighboring molecule. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations at the UB3LYP/6-311G++(2d,p) theory level have been employed to elucidate the preferred reaction pathway. Both proposed HATR mechanisms predicted 2 to possess a lower free energy of activation, ΔG(‡), relative to 1 in accordance with the experimental stability measurements. However, the intermolecular route had an overall lower absolute ΔG(‡) and was more consistent with measured product ratios in solution. The intermolecular reaction pathway, unlike the intramolecular route, also predicted the lack of formation of a migration product featuring a Cl covalently bonded to a methylene group at the 5-position of the hydantoin moiety, which was verified by NMR experiments.

Annealing studies on a thermotropic liquid crystalline polyester meltblown fabric

Meltblown fabrics composed of a thermotropic liquid crystalline polyester were subjected to heat conditioning at various temperatures. Physical effect of the treatment was investigated by tensile testing of the fabrics and the individual fibers. The fabrics exhibited increased tensile strength by more than 100% after the heat conditioning due to inter-fiber bonding in the fabric structure and morphological reorganization of the thermotropic polymer. The calorimetric behavior of the polymer was further investigated to obtain information about the internal structure. Structural change during the annealing was also visually observed under a polarized light microscope.