N-halamine polyelectrolytes used for preparation of antibacterial polypropylene nonwoven fabrics and study on their basal cytotoxicity and mutagenicity

Abstract

Polymeric N-halamine precursors, cationic poly((3-acrylamidopropyl) trimethylammonium chloride) (CHP) and anionic poly(2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid sodium salt) (AHP), were synthesized and coated onto polypropylene nonwoven fabrics via eco-friendly dipping and spraying methods. The successful coatings were characterized by EDS analysis. After exposure to diluted sodium hypochlorite solution, the coatings became biocidal. Antibacterial tests showed that PP-Dip-Cl samples could inactivate more than 5 logs of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli O157:H7 within 60 and 30 min, respectively. Although PP-Spray-Cl samples had a relatively low active chlorine content, all inoculated bacteria were inactivated within 60 min for both S. aureus and E. coli O157:H7. All the coatings showed proper storage stability under dark and lab-light conditions. The coated samples showed good air permeability. Basal cytotoxicity test showed that the estimated acute oral LD₅₀ value was 209 ± 14 mg/kg b. w. and 353 ± 14 mg/kg b. w. for CHP-Cl and AHP-Cl, respectively and no indication of mutagenicity was observed with and without external metabolizing enzyme system (rat liver S9 mix) for both the two N-halamine compounds. The eco-friendly coatings have great potential for applications in hospitals.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• antibacterial
• N-halamine
• nonwoven fabrics
• polypropylene

Acknowledgments

The authors appreciate sponsorship from the China Scholarship Council.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [No. JUSRP11806 and JUSRP51722B], the Project of Jiangsu Science and Technological Innovation Team, national first-class discipline program of Light Industry Technology and Engineering [LITE2018-2], and 111 Projects [B17021].