A novel N-halamine acrylamide monomer and its copolymers for antimicrobial coatings

A new N-halamine acrylamide monomer having 31 wt.% chlorine loading capability was synthesized and then copolymerized with a tethering siloxane monomer in several feed ratios. The resulting copolymers were coated onto cotton fabric and rendered biocidal upon treatment with 1% household bleach. The halogenated coated fabrics provided a total of 8-logs inactivation of both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria within 5 min of contact time. The equimolar and siloxane-rich copolymers were noticeably stable on cotton fabric toward washing cycles, as only 10% of the copolymers were hydrolyzed from the cotton surface after the equivalent of 50 machine washes. The halogenated coated fabrics lost about half of the chlorine slowly within 24 h under UVA light irradiation with some decomposition observed.