Contact-active antibacterial polyethylene foils via atmospheric air plasma induced polymerisation of quaternary ammonium salts.

Polyethylene (PE) foils were modified with potent contact-active antibacterial quaternary ammonium salts (QAS) by an atmospheric air plasma activation step, followed by graft-polymerisation of vinylbenzyltrimethylammonium chloride (VBTAC) monomers. The presented approach uses a cost efficient air plasma activation and subsequent radical polymerisation in highly concentrated aqueous monomer solutions to generate efficient antibacterial materials. The obtained contact-active poly-VBTAC modified PE foils feature a homogeneous and 300 nm thick polymer layer with a high charge density of approximately 10 N/cm.