Bactericidal and anti-adhesion polymers containing trialkyl-(4-vinylbenzyl)ammonium and plant-based tocopherol for coating applications

Abstract

Polymers containing trialkyl-(4-vinylbenzyl)ammonium and plant-based tocopherol (abbreviated as P(C8N₁₀TOC_#), #=10, 30, 50, 70, and 90), where # indicates the molar content (%) of the tocopherol moiety in the side group, were prepared using the poly(4-chloromethylstyrene) (PCMS) as precursor and the trioctylamine and tocopherol as substituent to evaluate its abilities for coating application. Transparent P(C8N₁₀TOC_#) films were prepared on a glass substrate by spin coating and polymer films showed bactericidal and anti-adhesive properties with different alkyl chain lengths of ammonium and contents of tocopherol as substitution. It was found that the P(C8N₁₀TOC_#)s have a probability of bactericidal function and possess bactericidal properties above 49.6 and 94.6 % against Escherichia coli (E. coli; ATCC 8739) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus; ATCC 6538), respectively. The anti-adhesive properties of the P(C8N₁₀TOC₉₀) films were shown against various contaminations with low surface energy. In detail, P(C8N₁₀TOC_#) films were expected to exhibit dual functional properties because they contained an optimum amount of hydrophilic trioctylammonium units and a sufficient amount of hydrophobic plant-based tocopherol units to impart bactericidal activity and low surface energy, respectively. Furthermore, the thermal, optical, and surface properties of the P(C8N₁₀TOC_#) films were investigated. Thus, this study reveals the potential of the P(C8N₁₀TOC_#) coating as a coating agent in various application areas and is also the first study to investigate the bifunctional properties of polymers containing quaternary ammonium and plant-based tocopherol moieties.