Investigating the viability of sulfur polymers for the fabrication of photoactive, antimicrobial, water repellent coatings



Upton, Rebekah L, Dop, Romy A ORCID: 0000-0002-3903-7236, Sadler, Emma, Lunt, Amy M, Neill, Daniel R ORCID: 0000-0002-7911-8153, Hasell, Tom ORCID: 0000-0003-4736-0604 and Crick, Colin R ORCID: 0000-0001-9674-3973
(2022) Investigating the viability of sulfur polymers for the fabrication of photoactive, antimicrobial, water repellent coatings. JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY B, 10 (22). pp. 4153-4162. ISSN 2050-750X, 2050-7518

[thumbnail of d2tb00319h.pdf] Text
d2tb00319h.pdf - Published version

Download (3MB) | Preview

Abstract

Elemental sulfur (<i>S</i><sub>8</sub>), a by-product of the petroleum refining industries, possesses many favourable properties including photocatalytic activity and antibacterial activity, in addition to being intrinsically hydrophobic. Despite this, there is a relative lack of research employing elemental sulfur and/or sulfur copolymers within superhydrophobic materials design. In this work, we present the use of sulfur copolymers to produce superhydrophobic materials with advanced functionalities. Using inverse vulcanization and the use of a natural organic crosslinker, perillyl alcohol (PER), stable S<sub>8</sub>-PER copolymers were synthesised and later combined with silica (SiO<sub>2</sub>) nanoparticles, to achieve highly water repellent composites that displayed both antimicrobial and photocatalytic properties, in the absence of carcinogenic and/or expensive materials. Here, we investigated the antibacterial performance of coatings against the Staphylococcus aureus bacterial strain, where coatings displayed great promise for use in antifouling applications, as they were found to limit surface adhesion by more than 99%, when compared to uncoated glass samples. Furthermore, UV dye degradation tests were performed, utilizing the commercially available dye resazurin, and it was shown that coatings had the potential to simultaneously exhibit surface hydrophobicity and photoactivity, demonstrating a great advancement in the field of superhydrophobic materials.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Sulfur, Water, Silicon Dioxide, Polymers, Anti-Infective Agents, Anti-Bacterial Agents
Divisions: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences
Faculty of Science and Engineering > School of Physical Sciences
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 09 May 2022 08:20
Last Modified: 06 Dec 2024 21:17
DOI: 10.1039/d2tb00319h
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3154405