LAUSR

Abstract Nanoscale colloidal particles were synthesized by copolymerization of styrene (St), α-[1,4-dioxo-4-[2-(trimethylammonio)ethoxy]-2-buten-1-yl]-ω-(4-nonylphenoxy)- choloride (CPE) and dodecafluoroheptyl methacrylate (DFHMA). The chemical composition of nanoscale colloidal particles was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), elemental analysis and lanthanum nitrate techniques, which indicated that CPE was successfully copolymerized with the other monomers. On basis of resultant particles, superhydrophobic antibacterial films were prepared by directly casting. The effects of fluorinated monomer content and polymerizable emulsifier content on nanoparticle size, antibacterial property and static contact angle of the films were studied in detail. The result displays that with increasing fluorine content, the particle size of colloidal nanoparticles and static contact angle of films gradually increase. The opposite was observed with the increase of polymerizable emulsifier content. The sterilization and anti-adhesion experiments were carried out with Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli). It demonstrates that highly hydrophobic film has excellent antibacterial and anti-adhesion performance, which antibacterial rate and adhesion inhibition efficiency both reach above 99.9%. Moreover, it is found that the nanoscale colloidal particles still maintain high antibacterial rate after being washed and redispersed, suggesting CPE can enhance stability of antibacterial action. It is interesting to observe that ethanol contributes to fine adhesion of colloidal films. The low cost, simple method, superhydrophobicity and superb antibacterial property endow colloidal films with promising applications in biomedical field.