A zwitterionic terpolymer based coating potentially for antibacterial and antifouling applications

Abstract Antifouling materials are highly demanded in global marine market due to increasingly aggravated marine biofouling problem and unbalanced marine ecology. Herein, poly (vinyl imidazole-co-hydroxypropyl methacrylate-co-butyl acrylate) (P(VIm-co-HPMA-co-BA)) was prepared via free radical polymerization of commercially available monomers of vinyl imidazole (VIm), hydroxypropyl methacrylate (HPMA) and butyl acrylate (BA). Then the zwitterionic terpolymer (P(VPS-co-HPMA-co-BA)) was obtained by ionicalization of P(VIm-co-HPMA-co-BA) with 1, 3-propionate lactone (1, 3-PS) in EtOH solutions. Furthermore, the membrane samples, P(VIm-co-HPMA-co-BA) and P(VPS-co-HPMA-co-BA) were prepared by tape casting method with DI water bath. Significantly, P(VPS-co-HPMA-co-BA) membranes have shown better bactericidal activity against Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) with a mean area size of 3.5 cm2. Meanwhile, the bacterial adhesion assay showed that P(VPS-co-HPMA-co-BA) membranes were found the absence of adherent bacteria, and exhibited excellent anti-adhesion property with the increase of molar ratios of PVPS by the observation of bacteria population density. The mechanical testing results indicated that the molar ratios of 65/10/25 in P(VIm-co-HPMA-co-BA) membranes and P(VPS-co-HPMA-co-BA) membranes had high breaking elongation ratio and great tensile strength. Specifically, the maximum tensile strength of P(VPS-co-HPMA-co-BA) membrane could reach up to 10.9 MPa. The results showed that the novel P(VPS-co-HPMA-co-BA) membrane exhibited both anti-bacterial, anti-adhesion property and mechanical performance, manifesting its prospectively potential applications in new highly efficient and eco-friendly marine antifouling coatings.