Amphiphilic N-halamine copolymer antibacterial nanoparticles with hydrogen-donor and hydrogen-acceptor

Bacterial contamination in water bodies is potentially transmissible to humans, making water bodies a major pathway of bacterial transmission. However, existing hydantoin copolymer nanoparticles did not achieve the regulation of nanoparticle dispersion and particle size by adjusting the ratio of hydrogen-donors and hydrogen-acceptors. To tackle this issue, amphiphilic hydantoin copolymer nanoparticles (P(VBDH-BA-NVP)NPs) were synthesized by modulating hydrogen-donors and hydrogen-acceptors using emulsion polymerization, and amphiphilic N-halamine copolymer nanoparticles (P(ClV-BA-NVP)NPs) were subsequently prepared via chlorination treatment. Impressively, nanoparticle dispersion and particle size were modulated by adjusting the ratio of hydrogen-donors and hydrogen-acceptors. With the increase of nanoparticle dispersion and the decrease of particle size, the active chlorine content was gradually enlarged, and the antibacterial performance was progressively enhanced against Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) and Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ). More importantly, amphiphilic N-halamine copolymer nanoparticles with two-dimensional dispersing (2DD-P(ClV-BA-NVP)NPs) exhibited excellent antibacterial properties, which benefited from the dual coordination of direct contact killing and indirect release killing in aqueous medium. Through designing P(VBDH-BA-NVP)NPs with hydrogen bond interactions, this approach aims to achieve the constitutive relationship between the effective exposure of active sites and the antibacterial effect.