New Approach Towards m-PEG Grafting Onto Commercially Available Nylon 6 To Resist Bacterial Adhesion On Surface

Biofilm formation, caused particularly by pathogenic bacteria like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on medical devices, is imposing threat to public health. There is thus an ever growing demand for designing materials that are both cytocompatible and resistant to biofilm formation as well as bacterial infections. Surface functionalized polyamides, such as Nylon 6, are widely used as biomaterial due to its strength, flexibility, toughness and cytocompatibility. The undertaken study is focused on the surface functionalization of Nylon 6 by reducing the surface with borane-tetrahydrofuran complex (BH₃-THF), followed by grafting with poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether tosylate (mPEG-OTs) via a novel lithiation approach. The modified Nylon 6 surfaces were characterized by various techniques such as water contact angle (WCA) analysis, atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to confirm the modification of Nylon 6 surface. Evaluation of bacterial adhesion on the pure and modified surface against biofilm active pathogenic bacterial strain: Staphylococcus aureus (S.A.) CCM 3953 was accomplished. The functionalized Nylon 6 surfaces showed significant resistance towards bacterial adhesion compared to pure Nylon 6.