Facile Fabrication of Antibacterial Core–Shell Nanoparticles Based on PHMG Oligomers and PAA Networks via Template Polymerization

Antibacterial core–shell nanoparticles based on poly(hexamethylene guanidine hydrochloride) (PHMG) oligomers and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) networks are efficiently fabricated via a facile one-step co-polymerization of acrylic acid and N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide on PHMG templates in aqueous solution. Dynamic light scattering, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy observations were used to characterize the size, morphology, and structure of the nanoparticles, as well as the interactions between the components. Also, the stability of the nanoparticle dispersion against storage, pH value, salt, and temperature was investigated. The results show that the crosslinked PAA/PHMG nanoparticles are stabilized by electrostatic interactions. The core–shell structure of the nanoparticles was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy observation. The size of the nanoparticles increases substantially with extension of storage or with increase of the salt concentration. The nanoparticle dispersion is stable in a pH range of 2.0–4.0. The size change of the nanoparticles with pH of the medium is parabolic, and the minimum size is reached at pH 3.0. A rise of temperature leads to a slight and recoverable size increase of the nanoparticles. Antibacterial efficiency was evaluated quantitatively against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus by the plating method according to Standard JC/T 897–2002. The antibacterial activity against these two bacteria are both above 99.0 % at a nanoparticle concentration of 5 mg mL–1. This makes the nanoparticle dispersion a good candidate for the application of antibacterial water-based coatings and textiles coating.