Study on the Synthesis and Characterization of Antibacterial Polystyrenes

In the present work, a series of quaternized antibacterial polystyrenes (Anti-PSts) with various molecular weights are synthesized and characterized. Initially, ω-bromo end functional polystyrenes with different molecular weights (PSt-Br-1, PSt-Br-2 and PSt-Br-2) are synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Then, the ω–bromo functionalities of obtained PSt-Brs are reacted with trimethylamine (TEA) to achieve corresponding antibacterial properties. PSt-Brs and Anti-PSts produced are structurally characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1 H-NMR), and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) at various stages. Glass transition temperatures ( T g ) of PSt-Brs and Anti-PSts are determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis. Water contact angle measurement (WCA) is employed for the wettability characterization studies of Anti-PSts. In addition, antibacterial activity of final products against to Gram-positive ( Staphylococcus aureus ) and Gram-negative ( Escherichia coli ) bacteria is elucidated in terms of molecular weight and quaternization reaction time.