The use of the pseudo-polyelectrolyte, poly(4-vinylphenol), in multilayered films as an antimicrobial surface coating

The use of weak polyelectrolytes in multilayer polymer systems provides a means of altering the physico-chemical properties of these thin films. We recently examined the pKa limits of the polyanions by incorporating the pseudo-polyelectrolytes (pPE), poly(4-vinylphenol) (PVPh), into multilayer systems with either the weak polyelectrolyte, poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and the strong polyelectrolyte, poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) from dilute aqueous media. Since PVPh exhibits moderate antimicrobial ability, we tested these newly developed multilayered systems to determine their ability to act as antimicrobial surface coatings. The PAH/PVPh system showed approximately 60% inhibition of growth under nutrient rich environment for Staphylococcus epidermidis when assembled at pHʹs 10.5 and 12.5. At assembly pHʹs between this range there was a decrease in efficacy. For the PDADMAC/PVPh multilayered coatings, >70% inhibition of growth of S. epidermidis was observed at an assembly pH of 10.5 and 11.0. This represents the first example of multilayered PVPh being used as an antimicrobial surface coating.