Antibacterial activity of quaternary ammonium salt grafted cotton

Cotton having good antibacterial activity can be obtained without the need for a binding chemical as a cross linker or the need for chemically pre-treated antibacterial agent. The procedure of synthesis consists in grafting an alkali-cellulose fibre by a quaternary ammonium salt: Epoxy propyltrimethylammonium chloride (EPTMAC). The characterization of grafted cotton (EPTMAC-Cotton) has been targeted on the nitrogen and the methyl group in the ammonium graft structure, by using some analytical techniques, such as infrared, NMR spectroscopy, and volumetric measurement. The antibacterial activity of EPTMAC-Cotton has been studied using four kinds of bacterial stains (Escherichia coli 25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa 27853, Staphylococcus aureus 259223 and Salmonella LT2DT104 typhimirium). An optimization of conditions of culture medium has been carried out for the bacterial strain for which the modified cotton presents the best antibacterial activity. This optimization is achieved while varying the most important parameters influencing the bacterial growth. We have chosen the pH and the sodium chloride concentration as variable parameters, and we have applied an experiment plant, in order to consider all possible combinations of experiments, and therefore, to estimate the effect of each factor, as well as the effect of their interaction. It has been noticed that a quaternary ammonium salt (EPTMAC) is an efficient antibacterial agent, especially against salmonella in alkaline medium slightly concentrated in salt, and its action depends, in some manner, on the whitening procedure of cotton.