Quaternarized cationic poly[(vinyl chloride)-co-(vinyl chloroacetate)] binary copolymer as non-migration antibacterial additive in PVC matrix

Antibacterial polyvinyl chloride (PVC) materials have drawn considerable attention since their wide application in medical devices. The objective of this study is to develop a novel quaternary ammonium cationic vinyl chloride copolymer, which can be potentially used as antibacterial additive in PVC matrix. Initially, the low average-number molecular weight poly[(vinyl chloride)- co -(vinyl chloroacetate)] (PVC- co -PVCA) is synthesized by precipitation copolymerization. Subsequently, quaternary ammonium cationic moieties with different lengths of alkyl chains are introduced into the copolymers via quaternization reaction between alkyl-dimethyl tertiary amines with acyl chloride groups. The successful synthesis of PVC- co -PVCA and quaternarized copolymers are carefully confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The antibacterial behaviors of the quaternarized copolymers and its blends with PVC are investigated. The results reveal that all the PVC blends containing at least 5% by weight of quaternarized copolymer have superior bacteriostasis ratio (>99.6%) against both Escherichia coli ( E.coli ) and Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ) due to the incorporation of quaternary ammonium groups. Meanwhile, the cationic copolymer exhibits excellent antifouling and much lower migration rate (<0.4%). These interesting consequences endow the quaternarized copolymers as alternative antibacterial agents possess a great deal of potential for use in PVC materials.