Highly Durable Antibacterial Textiles: Cross-Linked Protonated Polyaniline-Polyacrylic Acid with Prolonged Electrical...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Textile Engineering
• Polymer Chemistry

Background:

• Textile antibacterial durability is limited, hindering applications in preventing infectious disease transmission.
• Developing textiles with sustained antibacterial properties is crucial for public health and advanced material applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create highly durable antibacterial textiles by integrating protonated polyaniline (PANI) with poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) via cross-linking polymerization.
• To evaluate the electrical conductivity, durability, and antibacterial efficacy of the developed PAA-PANI textiles.

Main Methods:

• Incorporation of protonated polyaniline (PANI) into textile materials.
• Functional binding using poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) through cross-linking polymerization.
• Assessment of electrical conductivity, stability after washing cycles, and antibacterial efficiency against specific bacterial strains.

Main Results:

• The PAA-PANI textile achieved high electrical conductivity (8.33 ± 0.04 × 10^-3 S/cm) and maintained stability after 50 washing cycles.
• Demonstrated significant antibacterial efficacy: 95.48% against *Pseudomonas aeruginosa* and 92.35% against *Staphylococcus aureus*, persisting after 50 washes.
• The PAA-PANI textile showed an 80% scavenging activity rate, vastly outperforming the PANI-only textile (3.22%), indicating sustained antioxidant release.

Conclusions:

• Cross-linking PAA-PANI into textiles results in materials with exceptional antibacterial durability and electrical stability.
• This advancement provides a foundation for developing advanced wearable textiles for combating infectious diseases and enhancing technological performance.
• The findings open new possibilities for antimicrobial textiles in healthcare and beyond.