Synthesis and characterization of quaternary ammonium PEGDA dendritic copolymer networks for water disinfection

Abstract

Quaternary ammonium compounds are some of the most widely used antimicrobial agents for various medical applications due to their low toxicity and broad spectrum antimicrobial activity. Various generations of poly(ethyleneglycol)diacrylate (PEGDA) based dendrimers were synthesized by Michael addition reaction of PEGDA with ethylene diamine and diethyl amine. The percentage yield of different generation of dendrimers were 70%, 66%, 60%, and 85% for G1.0 (¼), G1.5 (NH 2 ), G2.0 (¼), and G2.5 (¼, NEt 2 ), respectively. Synthesized dendrimers were also copolymerized with ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate by free radical bulk polymerization at room temperature using ammonium persulphate/ N,N,N 0 ,N 0 -tetramethyl ethylenediamine as a redox initiator system to form dendritic copolymer networks. These networks were quaternized with hydrochloric acid by continuously refluxing at 40 C for 6 h. Dendrimers and quaternized dendritic copolymer networks were characterized by 1 HNMR, FTIR, Differential scanning calorimetry, Thermogravimetric analysis, Scanning electron microscope, swelling, and leaching studies. Synthesized quaternary ammonium dendritic copolymer networks were found to be biostable and insoluble in water and capable of killing both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria when contaminated water was treated with them. It was also observed that antimicrobial efficiency of dendritic copolymer networks increases with the increase in nitrogen atoms in the copolymer. The dendritic copolymer network with 16 quaternary ammonium groups (G2.5 (¼, NEt 2 ): EGDMA QHCl) were highly efficient to disinfect 10 mL bacterial solution of 2000 cfu/mL within 2 min even at a very low concentration of 0.005 g/mL.

Release of Polymeric Biocides from Synthetic Matrices for Marine Biofouling Applications

“…In fact, research on antimicrobial polymers has attracted considerable attention over the past years, due to their high efficacy in preventing and controlling the microbial infection. Their use is of great importance in various fields, especially in medical devices, water purification, drugs, textiles, food packages, antifouling paints and fish nets (Abid, at al., 2010;Alamril, et al, 2012;Oikonomou, et al, 2012). The mechanism of their action is well known for years and their antimicrobial activity has been tested against various microorganisms (Lee, et al, 2004).…”

New biobased non-ionic hyperbranched polymers as environmentally friendly antibacterial additives for biopolymers

“…36 Such a new class of dendritic polymers are of great interest in the context of antibacterial polymers, because it is known that densely grafted positive charges on dendritic polymers can significantly enhance their interactions with the bacterial membrane. [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44] However, it is unclear whether the bacteria inhibition can be amplified by the localization of the non-ionic antibacterial functionalities of dendritic polymers. To date, non-ionic dendritic polymers have only been investigated as anti-viral drugs, 45,46 and we are unaware of any investigation on antibacterial non-ionic dendritic polymers.…”

Properties of the Quaternary Ammonium Salts with Novel Counterions

“…The bacteriostatic property is one of the main characteristic applications of the quaternary ammonium salts [22][23][24]. In this work, the effect of the novel QAS on antimicrobial properties against E. coli and S. aureus at a concentration level of 90 mg L -1 were measured.…”