On the possibility of using cationic surfactants to impart antimicrobial properties to textile materials

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the need for improved measures to prevent infectious diseases. Combating pathogens once they have been released into the environment is complicated by their widespread distribution. It is necessary to prevent the contamination of environmental objects. One possible way to do this is to create materials that have antimicrobial action without exposure to disinfectants and thus begin to have an antimicrobial effect on microorganisms immediately upon contact. Textile materials are widely used in medical organizations and are one of the factors of pathogenic microflora spreading. In this work, the possibility of using substances from the group of cationic surfactants to impart antimicrobial properties to textile materials was considered. Substances from different classes were used – tertiary amines, quaternary ammonium compounds, polymeric guanidine derivatives. The substances were applied from aqueous solutions using a laboratory analogue of a drying and a shirring machine. An acrylate binder with thermal initiation of polymerization was used to fix the active substances to the tissues. The content of the active substances in the tissues after application was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. Antimicrobial activity of the obtained materials was checked by the agar plate method and the area of the growth retardation zone was estimated. Tissues containing N,N-bis(3-aminopropyl)dodecylamine showed the highest activity, tissues with poly (2-hydroxypropyl dimethylammonium) chloride the lowest. Keywords: antimicrobial materials, antimicrobial textile, HAI, cationic surfactants.