Antimicrobial treatment of nylon

The preparation of an antimicrobial nylon material and its properties are d iscussed. Biocidal cyclic N-chloramine moieties were covalently bonded to N ylon 66. These moieties, which included hydantoins, oxazolidinones, and imi dazolidinones, were stable during at least 3 months of dry storage, and the ir antimicrobial activities, once lost by reaction with reducing sodium thi osulfate, could be regenerated by exposure to free chlorine. Biocidal swatc h tests showed that the nylon fabrics containing N-chlorinated hydantoin fu nctional groups provided a 7.2 log reduction of Staphylococcus aureus and a 7.1 log reduction of Escherichia coli at a contact time of only 10 min. An timicrobial nylon should find a variety of important uses such as in clothi ng, carpets, sutures, brushes, and so forth. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, In c.