Polyurethane (PU) has an eminence potential to be used as a urinary catheter because of its physicochemical properties. The biofilm accumulation on the surface of polyurethane is the biggest hindrance for its usage as a safe and prolonged catheter. Herein, the antimicrobial polyurethane was developed via wet chemistry method. Alkaline hydrolysis using NaOH was used for the generation of hydrophilic (amine) functionality on polyurethane surface. The reactant concentration and reaction time was investigated in terms of good amine functionality. The amine content at optimized condition was found to be ~4 μM/g in 8 h after treating with 10% NaOH. The surface morphology of hydrolyzed polyurethane was characterized using SEM and atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique, which confirmed the formation microdomains on the PU surface due to hydrolysis. Chlorohexidine digluconate (CLX) was used as model drug and CLX was simply incorporated by immersion of the PU in the CLX solution. The immobilization of drug was confirmed using surface chemistry analysis, that is, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and energy‐dispersive X‐ray mapping technique. The cumulative release of drug was observed with varying concentration of drug. Excellent bacteriostatic and bactericidal efficiency were observed for drug immobilized polyurethane against both gram‐positive bacteria S. aureus and gram‐negative bacteria E. coli. The designed CLX‐PU film did not allow the bacteria to adhere on its surface and mitigate the risk of biofilm formation.

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The antimicrobial finishing is the most suitable alternative for designing medical textiles for biomedical applications. The present investigation aims at the preparation of skin-contacting khadi cotton fabric that would prevent microbial infection and offer excellent skin compatibility. A simple approach has been followed for the preparation of bioactive nanogels for antimicrobial finishing of the khadi cotton fabric. Bioactive nanogels were synthesized by using aloe vera (AV) as a reducing agent for silver ions in the presence of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). PVA stabilizes the growth of silver nanoparticles, which is influenced by the variation in the reaction time and the temperature. Nanogels were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy analyses. The nanogels exhibited strong antimicrobial behavior against both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, as confirmed by the colony count method. Almost 100% antibacterial behavior was observed for the nanosilver content of 10 mM. The nanogel-finished khadi fabric showed bactericidal properties against both S. aureus and E. coli. The nanogel-finished fabric exhibited high hydrophilicity allowing complete water droplet penetration within 10 s as compared to 136 s in virgin fabric. Moreover, the skin irritation study of the fabric on male Swiss albino mice did not show any appearance of dermal toxicity. These results demonstrated that the bioactive finished khadi fabric is appropriate as skin contacting material in human health care.

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Antimicrobial polypropylene (PP) was developed by plasma functionalization and subsequent immobilization of chitosan (CS)‐chlorhexidine (CHX) nanogels as the bioactive component. Oxygen plasma was used to create a hydrophilic surface monitored by water drop interaction with the fabric surface. CS nanogels were prepared by the ionic gelation method. The characterization of the nanogels was carried out by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X‐ray microanalysis (EDX). The functionalized fabric exhibited excellent antimicrobial nature against S. aureus and E. coli microbes. The animal studies involving mice showed that the material exhibited excellent biocompatibility in contact with the skin. There was no evidence of inflammatory cells in the histopathology. This investigation suggests that the fabric has enormous potential as infection‐resistant material in applications such as wet wipes.