Synthesis and Antifungal Activities of Amphiphilic PDMS--QPDMAEMA Copolymers on .

Cationic polymers are prospective fungicidal agents for inhibiting plant diseases because of the controllability of their structure and properties. This study investigates the effect of the hydrophobic-hydrophilic balance on the antifungal activities of antimicrobial polymers against phytopathogenic fungi ( Kühn AG-1(IA)), the pathogen of rice sheath blight (RShB). A series of polydimethylsiloxane-polymethacrylate block copolymers containing quaternary ammonium salts (PDMS--QPDMAEMA, labeled as SQ; and represent 1000th of the molecular weight of the PDMS and QPDMAEMA chain, respectively) were synthesized via anionic ring-opening polymerization and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP).