Development of non-leaching antibacterial coatings through quaternary ammonium salts of styrene based copolymers

Non-leaching antibacterial coatings through quaternary ammonium salts containing polymers were successfully produced in a facile way to provide infection resistant surfaces against multi drug resistant bacteria such as B. licheniformis. In order to do so, a series of random copolymers of styrene (S) and vinyl benzyl chloride (VBC) were synthesized by free radical polymerization technique and subsequently, VBC (V) was functionalized with N,N-dimethylhexadecylamine to introduce quaternary ammonium (QA) salts in the backbone of the copolymers. The copolymers showed an excellent film forming ability, thereby providing an ultrathin coating on various substrates such as metal (stainless steel), glass, polyethylene and polystyrene, as observed by SEM.The coatings were found to be uniform, non leachable in aqueous medium and exhibit good adhesion to various substrates. The antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of the non-leachable coating of random copolymers were screened against B. licheniformis. Among, the copolymer containing 75% quaternized VBC (75VSQA) having 16-C long alkyl chain was found to show maximum antibacterial and antibiofilm activity owing to an appropriate hydrophobic /hydrophilic balance. Their non-leachable antibacterial and antibiofim activity make these coatings suitable for many applications, e.g. marine paints, textile/hospital coatings etc.