Surface-engineered Cationic Copolymer Microspheres with Nano-multiple Humps Topography for Enhancing Antibacterial Efficacy

Xiao-Qi Cheng; Jun Li; Tian Li; Ya-Ping Zhang; Rong-Min Wang; Yu-Feng He; Peng-Fei Song

doi:10.1007/s10118-025-3434-3

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Surface-engineered Cationic Copolymer Microspheres with Nano-multiple Humps Topography for Enhancing Antibacterial Efficacy

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2025-12-03

- Surface-engineered Cationic Copolymer Microspheres with Nano-multiple Humps Topography for Enhancing Antibacterial Efficacy
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 43, Issue 12, Pages: 2274-2284(2025)
- Affiliations：
  
  Key Laboratory of Eco-functional Polymer Materials of the Ministry of Education, Institute of Polymers, College of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China
- Author bio：
  
  zhangyp@nwnu.edu.cn (Y.P.Z.)
  wangrm@nwnu.edu.cn (R.M.W.)
  songpf@nwnu.edu.cn (P.F.S.)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-025-3434-3
  CLC：
- Received：24 June 2025，
  
  Accepted：11 August 2025，
  
  Online First：03 November 2025，
  
  Published：15 December 2025
- Accepted：
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Cheng, X. Q.; Li, J.; Li, T.; Zhang, Y. P.; Wang, R. M.; He, Y. F.; Song, P. F. Surface-engineered cationic copolymer microspheres with nano-multiple humps topography for enhancing antibacterial efficacy. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2025, 43, 2274–2284

Xiao-Qi Cheng, Jun Li, Tian Li, et al. Surface-engineered Cationic Copolymer Microspheres with Nano-multiple Humps Topography for Enhancing Antibacterial Efficacy[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2025, 43(12): 2274-2284.
Cheng, X. Q.; Li, J.; Li, T.; Zhang, Y. P.; Wang, R. M.; He, Y. F.; Song, P. F. Surface-engineered cationic copolymer microspheres with nano-multiple humps topography for enhancing antibacterial efficacy. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2025, 43, 2274–2284 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3434-3.

Xiao-Qi Cheng, Jun Li, Tian Li, et al. Surface-engineered Cationic Copolymer Microspheres with Nano-multiple Humps Topography for Enhancing Antibacterial Efficacy[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2025, 43(12): 2274-2284. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3434-3.

摘要

It remains a challenge for developing active antibacterial materials. Here

a cationic QPS copolymer microsphere with nano-multiple humps (CPMs-

nMHs) was successfully synthesized via emulsion polymerization and self-assembly. Owing to the synergistic effect between the cationic structure and nano-multiple humps

it exhibits 100% antibacterial activity against

E. coli

and

S. aureus

Abstract

Bacterial infections are becoming the second most common cause of death globally and have contributed significantly to morbidity and mortality. Cationi

c antibacterial polymers containing quaternary ammonium salts have been explored; however

it remains a key scientific challenge for current research to synergistically optimize the conformational relationships between structural surface features

active sites

and properties. In this study

a novel cationic copolymer microsphere with nano-multiple humps (CPMs-nMHs) was constructed through emulsion polymerization and self-assembly in EtOH/H

with 3-methacrylamido-

-trimethylpropan-1-aminium chloride (MPAC) as the protruding functional component. Meanwhile

different hydrophilic monomers were adjusted to synthesize polymers with varying forms

which offered a significant research foundation for delving deeper into the impact of their morphology on performance. After being characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy

scanning electron microscopy (SEM)

atomic force microscopy (AFM)

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)

dynamic light scattering (DLS)

and thermogravimetric analysis (TG)

the obtained CPMs-nMHs were applied to antibacterial activity against

Escherichia coli

(E. coli)

and

Staphylococcus aureus

(S. aureus)

. Surprisingly

the synthesized CPMs-nMHs exhibited excellent antibacterial performance

discovering that the antibacterial rates of up to 100%

while the activities of contrast copolymers were low. We considered that the dual cooperation of cationic structures and nano-multiple humps were responsible for the antibacterial capabilities. Taken together

cationic copolymer microspheres with nano-multiple humps provide a promising strategy for enhancing the antibacterial properties of cationic polymers.

关键词

Keywords

references

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