[en] Electron beam (EB) irradiation has been utilized to modify materials for various applications due to its remarkable advantages. As an efficient and environmental-friendly way for antibacterial and hydrophilic purposes, EB irradiation was applied to modify polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabrics by grafting with a N-halamine precursor monomer 3-allyl-5,5-dimethylhydantoin (ADMH) and acrylic acid (AA) in this study. The grafted PET fabrics were loaded with silver ions to further enhance the antimicrobial efficacy. The hydrophilicity of the modified PET fabrics was evaluated by testing the water contact angles with different contact times. The breaking strength and thermal stability of the modified swatches were studied. The UVA light stability results showed the chlorine loading of the modified PET fabrics decreased with the extension of UVA exposure time, and most chlorine loading could be recovered by re-chlorination. The antibacterial test showed that the modified PET swatches can inactivate all inoculated S. aureus and E. coli with short contact times.

[en] Highlights: • N-halamine precursor APDMH was grafted on the surface of graphene oxide (GO) via in-situ polymerization. • Using GO as the carrier of polymeric APDMH greatly slowed down the release rate of oxidative chlorine. • The GO-PAPDMH-Cl composites exhibited good antimicrobial efficacies against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli O157:H7). -- Abstract: N-halamine compounds have been applied as antibacterial agents owing to the oxidative chlorine. In this work, graphene oxide (GO) as carrier was used to load N-halamine compounds for the sustained-release of chlorine in order to maintain long-term biocidal efficacies. 3‑(3′‑Acrylic acid propylester)‑5,5‑dimethylhydantoin (APDMH) was synthesized using 5,5‑dimethylhydantoin as a heterocyclic precursor and attached on the surface of GO nanosheets via in-situ polymerization. The modified GO composites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The chlorinated GO nanosheets modified with polymerized APDMH (PAPDMH) were very stable and possessed long-term antibacterial properties. The GO-PAPDMH-Cl composites exhibited good antimicrobial efficacies against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli O157:H7) with log reductions of 7.20 and 7.06 within 30 min of contact time, respectively.

[en] Antibacterial fibers have great potential in many applications including wound dressings, surgical gowns, and surgical sutures, and play an important role in our daily life. However, the traditional fabrication method for the antibacterial fibers shows high cost, complexity, and inferior antibacterial durability. Herein, we report a facile and scalable fabrication of highly effective antibacterial alginate (SA) composite fibers through blend spinning of zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) particles and SA. The fabricated ZIF-67@SA composite fibers show high tensile strength and initial modulus. More importantly, the ZIF-67@SA composite fibers demonstrate excellent antibacterial properties, and the antibacterial efficiency reaches over 99% at ultralow ZIF-67 loading (0.05 wt%). In addition, the ZIF-67@SA fibers show good antibacterial durability even after five laundering cycles. The excellent antibacterial performance of the ZIF-67@SA fibers is attributed to the synergistic effects of the highly effective antibacterial ZIF-67 particles, swelling of alginate, and immobilization of ZIF-67 particles both inside and outside the fiber surface. This work may shed light on the antibacterial mechanism of metal organic frameworks and pave the way for the development of high-performance antibacterial textiles. (paper)