Long-term and fast-bactericidal activity of methacrylamide-based copolymer for antibiofilm coatings and antibacterial wipes applications

Bacterial-related infections can be hazardous for human health and the surrounding environment. Traditional antibiotic-based treatments for these infections are increasingly ineffective due to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Antimicrobial peptide mimics have emerged as promising replacements owing to their potency against bacteria and lack of susceptibility to generate resistant cells. Thus, we synthesized a random copolymer, consisting of aminopropyl methacrylamide and benzyl methacrylamide (AB polymer) by random co-polymerization that mimics host–defense antimicrobial peptides. For its use as a coating, the AB polymer is drop-casted onto a cleaned glass substrate and tested for its antibacterial activity toward Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, wherein almost 99% of antibacterial activity was observed within 5 min. The prepared coating also possessed excellent longevity characteristics of up to 5 weeks. The AB polymer is also able to inhibit biofilm formation as well as disrupt a mature biofilm and can also be employed as an antibacterial wipe for cleaning bacterial contaminated surfaces. Mechanism study through SEM analysis showed that the AB polymer ruptures the bilayer membrane of both bacterial strains, thereby leading to pore formation causing cell death. Cell viability study depicted that 71% of the A549 lung carcinoma epithelial cells are viable compared to 80% on bare glass substrate. Thus, the synthesized AB polymer may be used in a variety of antibacterial applications directly in the form of solution (wipes) or forming a coating (drop casted/spray coated) for battling bacterial colonization.