A Temperature and pH Dual-Sensitive Multifunctional Polyurethane with Bacteria-Triggered Antibacterial Activity

An effective and practical antibacterial strategy is to design multifunctional and stimuli-responsive materials that exhibit antibacterial activity in response to bacterial triggers. In this study, because the metabolism of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) can acidify the surrounding environment and pH level can affect the lower critical solution temperature of temperature/pH dual-sensitive polymers, a monomer containing a temperature-sensitive N-isopropyl amide derivative and pH-sensitive tertiary amine groups is first synthesized. Then, the monomer is copolymerized with a polyurethane chain, and partial tertiary amine groups are quaternized to obtain bactericidal activity. The modified polyurethane exhibits temperature/pH sensitivity, antibacterial adhesion activity, bactericidal activity, and good cytocompatibility. An in situ investigation of bacterial behavior and pH changes in the bacterial suspension during the process confirms that the temperature/pH dual-sensitive polyurethane successfully achieves antibacterial activity though the metabolic activity of S. aureus without external intervention. This design concept provides a new perspective for antibacterial material design.