Surface enrichment and nonleaching antimicrobial performance of polypropylene grafted poly(hexamethylene guanidine) (PP-g-PHMG) in poly (ethylene terephthalate)/PP-g-PHMG

Antimicrobial poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) materials are highly demanding in various applications in the industry. However, the combination of large-scale preparation, cost-effective and nonleaching characteristic still remains challenges. Herein, antimicrobial PET materials were prepared by an easy-to-scale-up melting blending between neat PET and polypropylene grafted poly(hexamethylene guanidine) (PP-g-PHMG). Such PET materials exhibited excellent antimicrobial activities, such as above 98.0% and 99.9% of inhibition rates against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively. Nonleaching characteristic was confirmed by the inhibition zone test. More importantly, the antimicrobial component enriched on the surfaces of PET materials due to the difference in the compatibility between PET matrix and PP-g-PHMG and the heterogeneous repulsive effect of crystallization. This work provides a facile and easy-to-scale-up way to obtain nonleaching antimicrobial PET.