Preparation of Zwitterionic Polymer-Functionalized Cotton Fabrics and the Performance of Anti-Biofouling and Long-Term Biofilm Resistance

Recently, antibacterial textiles have gained interest from scientists due to their potential to provide protection and high-quality life to people. In this study, zwitterionic poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) (pSBMA) brushes were grafted onto cotton fabrics via reactive dye intermediate reaction and surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) technology. Two bacterial species (Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Escherichia coli ) was used for bacterial attachment experiments. The capability of resisting nonspecific protein adhesion, short-term bacterial attachment (24 h) and long-term biofilm formation (120 h) of pSBMA-grafted cotton fabrics were studied. The results suggested that the pSBMA-grafted cottons exhibited an excellent non-fouling performance. Different from the studies on two-dimensional surfaces, our study provides an insight into the long-term biofilm resisting properties of porous textiles grafted with zwitterionic polymers.