Surface antimicrobial modification of polyamide by poly(hexamethylene guanidine) hydrochloride

Antimicrobial polyamide (PA) received much attention for the demand of packaging and biomedical fields. In this paper, an antimicrobial PA6 membrane was prepared via a surface chemical reaction. A highly effective antibacterial component (PHMG-E) with terminal epoxy group was firstly synthesized via a reaction between polyhexamethylene guanidine hydrochloride (PHMG) and ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (EGDE). Then, PHMG-E was bonded on the surface of PA6 membrane with secondary amine reduced by borane-tetrahydrofuran (BH 3 -THF). The antimicrobial rates of surface-modified PA6 membrane (PA6-PHMG) against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were both higher than 99.99%, and the PHMG was non-leaching due to the chemical bonding. The hydrophilicity of antibacterial PA6 membrane was also significantly improved and the mechanical performance became better.