Non-Leaching, Rapid Bactericidal and Biocompatible Polyester Fabrics Finished with Benzophenone Terminated N-halamine

Pathogenic bacteria can proliferate rapidly on porous fabrics to form bacterial plaques/biofilms, resulting in potential sources of cross-transmissions of diseases and increasing cross-infection in public environments. Many works on antibacterial modification of cotton fabrics have been reported, while very few works were reported to endow poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fabrics with non-leaching antibacterial function without compromising their innate physicochemical properties though PET is the most widely used fabric. Therefore, it is urgent to impart the PET fabrics with non-leaching antibacterial activity. Herein, a novel N-halamine compound, 1-chloro-3-benzophenone-5,5-dimethylhydantoin (Cl-BPDMH), was developed to be covalently bonded onto PET fabrics, rendering non-leaching antibacterial activity while negligible cytotoxicity based on contact-killing principle. Bacterial was easily adhered to Cl-BPDMH finished PET fabrics, and then it was inactivated quickly within 10 s. Furthermore, the breaking strength, breaking elongation, tearing strength, water vapor permeability, air permeability and whiteness of Cl-BPDMH finished PET fabrics were improved obviously compared to raw PET fabrics. Hence, this work developed a facile approach to fabricate multifunctional synthetic textiles to render outstanding and rapid bactericidal activity without compromising their physicochemical properties and biocompatibility.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42765-021-00100-z.