In situ borneol-modified polyester with antibacterial adhesion and long-term fungal-repellent properties

Polyester is widely used in biomedical, textile, and food packaging fields. Therefore, enhancing it with antimicrobial properties would be a significant advancement. In this paper, a series of borneol-triazine polyesters (BTPs) with different structures are synthesized through room temperature polycondensation . The structure and composition of BTPs are systematically characterized by 1 H NMR, FTIR and GPC . Antimicrobial results reveal that the ability of BTPs to resist bacterial or fungal adhesion is directly related to the polymer structure . When the polymer chain of BTPs adopts a rigid structure, they exhibit excellent anti-adhesive and inhibitory performances against both Gram-negative bacteria ( Escherichia coli ) and Gram-positive bacteria ( Staphylococcus aureus ). Meanwhile, the as-synthesized BTPs poses a fungal-repelling effect on common fungal strains ( Aspergillus niger ) for up to 30 d. Further studies have shown that a stereochemical structure brought by borneol is key for imparting effective antimicrobial properties to BTPs. In addition, BTPs are non-leaching materials with low cellular cytotoxicity. Taking into consideration, BTP provides a potential strategy for preparing a new class of antimicrobial polyester materials .