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Updated: Sep 22, 2025

Synthesis of Hydrogels with Antifouling Properties As Membranes for Water Purification
Published on: April 7, 2017
Intrinsically Antibacterial Poly(ionic liquid) Membranes: The Synergistic Effect of Anions
Jiangna Guo1, Qiming Xu2, Zhiqiang Zheng1
1Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China.
Abstract:
The development of materials with intrinsically antimicrobial activities has attracted great interest. Herein, we report the synthesis of free-standing and robust poly(ionic liquid) (PIL) membranes with high antibacterial activities by in situ photo-cross-linking of an ionic liquid monomer and followed by anion-exchange with an amino acid (l-proline (Pro) or l-tryptophan (Trp)). The resultant PIL-based membranes with excellent robustness exhibit high antimicrobial properties against both Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and present no significant hemolysis and cytotoxicity toward human red blood and skin fibroblast cells, as well as low adsorption of bovine serum albumin. The synthesized PIL-Trp membranes exhibit the highest antibacterial efficiency due to the synergistic attributes of both imidazolium cation and Trp- anion. Furthermore, all the PIL-based membranes exhibit long-term antibacterial stability, which demonstrates clinical feasibility in topical applications.
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