RESUMO
A series of main-chain poly(amide-triazole)s were prepared by copper(I)-catalyzed alkyne-azide AABB-type copolymerizatons between five structurally similar diacetylenes 1-5 with the same diazide 6. The acetylene units in monomers 1-5 possessed different degrees of conformational flexibility due to the different number of intramolecular hydrogen bonds built inside the monomer architecture. Our study showed that the conformational freedom of the monomer had a profound effect on the polymerization efficiency and the thermoreversible gelation properties of the resulting copolymers. Among all five diacetylene monomers, only the one, that is, 1-Py(NH)(2) which possesses the pyridine-2,6-dicarboxamide unit with two built-in intramolecular H bonds could produce the corresponding poly(amide-triazole) Poly-(PyNH)(2) with a significantly higher degree of polymerization (DP) than other monomers with a lesser number of intramolecular H bonds. In addition, it was found that only this polymer exhibited excellent thermoreversible gelation ability in aromatic solvents. A self-assembling model of the organogelating polymer Poly-(PyNH)(2) was proposed based on FTIR spectroscopy, XRD, and SEM analyses, in which H bonding, π-π aromatic stacking, hydrophobic interactions, and the structural rigidity of the polymer backbone were identified as the main driving forces for the polymer self-assembly process.
RESUMO
Healthcare workers in the hospital environment are at risk of infection and body fluids such as saliva, bacterial contamination, oral bacteria, etc. directly or indirectly exacerbate this issue. These bio-contaminants, when adhered to hospital linens and clothing, grow substantially, as conventional textile products provide a favorable medium for bacterial and viral growth, adding to the risk of transmitting infectious diseases in the hospital environment. Textiles with durable antimicrobial properties prevent microbial colonization on their surfaces and help contain the spread of pathogens. This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial performance of PHMB-treated healthcare uniforms during prolonged usage and repetitive laundry cycles in a hospital environment. The PHMB-treated healthcare uniforms displayed non-specific antimicrobial properties and remained efficient (>99% against S. aureus and K. pneumoniae) after use for 5 months. With the fact that no antimicrobial resistance was reported towards PHMB, the presented PHMB-treated uniform may reduce infection in hospital settings by minimizing the acquisition, retention, and transmission of infectious diseases on textile products.
RESUMO
The spread of COVID-19 has brought about huge losses around the world. This study aims to investigate the applicability of PHMB used for developing antiviral spandex clothing against coronavirus. PHMB was qualitatively determined on the surface of spandex fabrics by using BPB. The antiviral analysis shows that the PHMB-treated spandex fabric can kill 99% of the coronavirus within 2 h of contact, which suggests that the spandex fabric treated with PHMB could be used for developing antiviral clothing against coronaviruses for containing the transmission of COVID-19 in high-risk places. Furthermore, PHMB-treated spandex fabrics were shown excellent antibacterial activity against gram-positive S. aureus and gram-negative K. pneumoniae. The hand feel properties of Spandex fabric were not significantly affected by the PHMB coating in addition to the wrinkle recovery, which was obviously improved after PHMB coating.
RESUMO
The outbreak of COVID-19 has already generated a huge societal, economic and political losses worldwide. The present study aims to investigate the antiviral activity of Poly(hexamethylene biguanide) hydrochloride (PHMB) treated fabric against COVID-19 by using the surrogate Feline coronavirus. The antiviral analysis indicated that up to 94% of coronavirus was killed after contacting the CVC fabric treated with PHMB for 2 h, which suggests that PHMB treated fabric could be used for developing protective clothing and beddings with antiviral activity against coronavirus and can play a role in fighting the transmission of COVID-19 in the high-risk places.
RESUMO
Two series of aliphatic hydrocarbon-based G1-G3 dendritic 2-ureido-4-pyrimidinones (UPy) (S-Gn)2 and (L-Gn)2, differing from one another by the distance between the branching juncture to the urea end, were prepared and characterized. These hydrocarbon dendrons were also appended to a p-aminonitrobenzene solvatochromic chromophore in order to probe their microenvironment polarity. While positive solvatochromism was observed which indicated the chromophore was solvent accessible, there was no significant difference between the microenvironment polarities on going from the G1 to the G3 dendrons. The self-assembling behavior and tautomeric preference of the dendritic UPy derivatives were examined by ¹Hâ NMR spectroscopy. The dimerization constants (K(dim*)) of the DDAA tautomers were unchanged at 107 M⻹ in CDCl3 at both 25 and 50°C, which were comparable to those of UPy compounds bearing other nonpolar substituents. Furthermore, the lower limits on the K'(dim*) of the DADA tautomeric forms of the (S-Gn)2 and (L-Gn)2 series were determined to be 106 and 105 M⻹ in CDCl3, respectively. It was found that a closer proximity of the dendron branching juncture to the UPy unit could lead to a destabilization effect on the dimeric states. Hence, the (L-Gn)2 dimers are more stable than those of (S-Gn)2 in the DDAA form, but the latter are more stable than the former in the tautomeric DADA state. This study showed that both the highly nonpolar microenvironment and the proximity of the dendritic branching juncture to the UPy motif could alter the strength and profile of the hydrogen bond-mediated self-assembling process.