Surface Modification of Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) for Effective and Regenerable Microbial Protection

Abstract

Publics are facing a great challenge of infections from pathogens. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is widely used in health-care settings. It is vital to develop effective and regenerable antimicrobial PET. In this study, effective antibacterial modification of PET was achieved by immobilizing N-halamine biocide poly (N-chloroacrylamide) (PCA) onto PET through the formation of a surface interpenetrating network. The successful and uniform immobilization was confirmed by FTIR and XPS. The immobilization is durable to a 72 hours soxhlet extraction. Surface morphology of the fabrics did not significantly change after modification with IP less than 20%. The modified fabric can bring 100% reduction of 10e6 CFU/ml of several clinical important bacteria in 15 min contact. The regenerability of N-halamine on PAM modified PET was studied by FTIR, titration and N analysis. After 30 regeneration cycles, the PAM-DVB network modified PET was still able to provide 100% reduction of HA-MRSA in 20 min contact.