Antibacterial polypropylene via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization

Polypropylene (PP) coated by a non-leachable biocide was prepared by chemically attaching poly(quaternary ammonium) (PQA) to the surface of PP. The well-defined poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA), a precursor of PQA, was grown from the surface of PP via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The tertiary ammine groups in PDMAEMA were consequently converted to QA in the presence of ethyl bromide. Successful surface modification was confirmed by ATR-FTIR, contact angle measurement, and an antibacterial activity test against Escherichia coli (E. coli). The biocidal activity of the resultant surfaces depends on the amount of the grafted polymers (the number of available quaternary ammonium units). With the same grafting density, the surface grafted with relatively high MW polymers (M(n) > 10,000 g/mol) showed almost 100% killing efficiency (killing all of the input E. coli (2.9 x 10(5)) in the shaking test), whereas a low biocidal activity (85%) was observed for the surface grafted with shorter PQA chains (M(n) = 1,500 g/mol).