Research Article
Antimicrobial Polyethylene through Melt Compounding with Quaternary Ammonium Salts
Table 3
Antibacterial activity of modified PE samples containing 5 wt-% quat (after leaching) against S. aureus, E. coli, and P. aeruginosa. Bacterial survival in tap water was variable; therefore only experiments where at least 50% of the bacteria survived in the suspension on pure PE were considered for this table. ++: most bacteria are dead; +: proportion of dead bacteria clearly increased compared to PE reference; +/−: different results with different samples; −: proportion of dead bacteria not increased compared to PE reference.
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amount of quat 8 available was not sufficient for a thorough investigation; however, in preliminary experiments it was found to have good antibacterial activity against S. aureus. |