Biocidal polyethylenimine film apparatus and method of use thereof

Abstract

A method for treating a pathogen, comprising the steps of: (1) providing a polyethylenimine in a solution, the polyethylenimine comprising a total cationic charge of protonated secondary amines of the polyethylenimine, the solution comprising anionic counterions associated with the protonated secondary amines; (2) tuning a protonated site of the polyethylenimine, in a formulation of the solution containing ions, to an activity coefficient (γ) in a range of 0.93 to 0.999; (3) forming from the formulation an antibacterial film, the antibacterial film comprising a mean thickness of less than 5 μm and the total cationic charge of the protonated secondary amines in a range of 0.1 to 1.8 C/in2; and (4) inactivating greater than 99% of first bacteria within less than five minutes of contact with the antibacterial film.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.