Preventing bacterial infections is a main focus of medical care. Antibacterial agents with broad and excellent disinfection capability against pathogenic bacteria are in fact urgently required. Herein, a novel strategy for the development of N-halamine polymers from spheres to fibers using a combined copolymerization-electrospinning-chlorination technique was reported, allowing fight against bacterial pathogen. Optimizing the process conditions, e.g., comonomer molar ratio, concentration of electrospinning solution, chlorination order, and chlorination period, resulted in the formation of N-halamine fibers with controllable morphology. N-Halamine polymers were tested against two common bacterial pathogens, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, and were found to be extremely potent against both bacteria, suggesting that they possess powerful sterilizing properties. Remarkably, compared with those with sphere morphology, N-halamine fibers show unexpected enhancement toward both pathogens possibly because of their shape (fiber morphology), surface state (rough surfaces), and surface charge (positive zeta potentials). It is believed that this approach has great potential to be utilized in various fields where antifouling and antibacterial properties are highly required.
N-Halamine compounds have attracted great attention
because they are recognized as promising antibacterial agents to control
microbial contamination; however, most of the research interests were
focused on N-halamines that contain N–Cl bond(s)
rather than N–Br bond(s). In this contribution, we report the
facile fabrication of N–Br bond-containing N-halamine nanofibers using the electrospinning method for antibacterial
usages. The as-produced N–Br bond-containing N-halamine nanofibers (i.e., DBDMH/PAN nanofibers) comprise an antibacterial
component of 1,3-dibromo-5,5-dimethylhydantoin (DBDMH) and a support
component of polyacrylonitrile (PAN). When systematic characterizations
were carried out, the as-obtained DBDMH/PAN nanofibers were proven
to exhibit well-defined fiber-like morphology and be highly efficient
in the killing of the selected model bacteria (Escherichia
coli). Their morphology and size could be well governed by
tuning the concentration of electrospinning precursor and the mass
ratio of PAN to DBDMH. The antibacterial mechanism of the DBDMH/PAN
nanofibers and their stabilities under dry, wet, and bacterial conditions
were confirmed as well. Facile synthesis and antibacterial activity
allow the feasibility of the final N–Br bond-containing N-halamine nanofibers for antibacterial-related clinical
applications in practice. Our work highlights the development of the
N–Br bond-containing N-halamine nanofibers
as promising antibacterial agents for biomedical applications.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.