Development of an antimicrobial microporous polyurethane membrane
Introduction
With the growing public health awareness of disease transmissions, cross-infections and malodors caused by microorganisms, use of antimicrobial materials has increased in many application areas, especially as protective clothing for medical and chemical workers, first receivers, sportswear, underwear and other health related products [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8]. Depending on the applications, materials can be physically fabricated by making them monolithic to be impermeable to challenging microorganisms, by controlling microporous pore sizes, or applying a layer of coating to restrict or block the penetration of pathogens and viruses [9]. Antimicrobial materials can be chemically engineered by adding functional antimicrobial agents onto the surface or within the matrix to either kill or inhibit the growth of microorganisms. Commonly used antimicrobial agents, such as antibiotics, silver ions, quaternary ammonium, N-halamines, and other biocidal agents, can be applied onto textiles and membrane materials by various chemical and physicochemical finishing techniques to protect the substrates from biological activities [10], [11], [12], [13].
For enhanced performance, an antimicrobial material should not only have good barrier and hygiene properties to protect wearers from pathogens and microbes, but also allow moisture and heat transport to prevent heat stress of the wearer. Microporous polyurethane (PU) membrane has numerous interconnected pores inside the membrane, which gives it desired breathability and some restrictions to particles, including chemical and pathogens, larger than the pore size [9]. In addition, PU membrane is very versatile and can be easily functionalized; therefore, microporous PU membrane was selected as the initial substrate for the study of antimicrobial properties.
The purpose of this research was to design a multifunctional membrane material, which possesses antimicrobial properties and maintains the balance between comfort and protection, i.e. water vapor transport and barrier protection [14]. To achieve the antimicrobial properties, N-halamine moieties were incorporated onto the membrane surfaces.
Section snippets
Materials
Microporous polyurethane (PU) membranes, with different pore sizes up to 8 μm and an average thickness of 50 μm, were obtained from Porvair Com., Norfolk, UK. 2,2,5,5-Tetramethyl-imidozalidin-4-one (TMIO, HaloSource Corporation, Seattle, WA) was used as an N-halamine precursor to modify the PU membrane surfaces. Toluene (Mallinckrodt Baker Inc., Phillipsburg, NJ) was dried over 4 Å molecular sieves (EM Science, Gibbstown, NJ) for 48 h before use. Hexamethylene diisocyanate (HMDI), tin (II)
Spectra analysis
Surface grafting was confirmed by ATR–FTIR (Fig. 1). After the first step reaction as shown in Scheme 1(a), the characteristic peak centered around 2250 cm−1 resulting from the stretching oscillation of the isocyanate (–NCO) group appeared, indicating a successful functionalization of the PU membrane surface with HMDI. After the second step grafting reaction with TMIO, this characteristic isocyanate group disappeared suggesting another reaction occurred on the membrane surface. Few other
Conclusions
To achieve surface antimicrobial property, TMIO was successfully grafted onto microporous polyurethane (PU) membrane surface as an N-halamine precursor. ATR–FTIR, 1H NMR, and XPS characterizations confirmed the surface chemical composition changes due to the surface grafting of TMIO moieties. EDX microanalysis and iodometric titration results showed that upon chlorination, the grafted TMIO hydantoin structures were successfully converted into N-halamines. SEM micrographs indicated that surface
Acknowledgements
This research was supported in part by the Cornell University Human Ecology College Grant and by the National Textile Center (Project C05-CR01). This work made use of the Cornell Center for Materials Research Shared Experimental Facilities, supported through the NSF MRSEC program (DMR-0079992). The LEO 1550 SEM was originally funded by the Keck Foundation, with additional support from the Cornell Nanobiotechnology Center (STC program, NSF award # ECS-9876771). The authors also thank Dr. Gang
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