Biocidal Polystyrene Beads. III. Comparison of N-halamine and Quat Functional Groups

Abstract

A comparison has been made between the biocidal efficacies of N-chlorinated polymeric beads and two derivatives of polyquat beads. Biocidal effects were measured after brief contact exposures of aqueous suspensions of either Staphylococcus aureus or Escherichia coli to the water-insoluble beads. The polymeric backbone was held the same in all three types of beads, so they differed only in their biocidal derivative moieties. In all cases, functionalization of crosslinked chloromethylated polystyrene beads was performed to introduce the biocidal properties. Synthetic methods and test data will be presented. The most effective biocide, as measured by degree of inactivation in the shortest contact time of the two species of bacteria, was the N-chlorinated hydantoinyl derivative of methylated polystyrene. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.