Antimicrobial polymer

A process for rendering the surface of a substrate antimicrobial, the process comprising:

• (a) providing a polymer having side chains along a backbone forming the polymer, at least two of the side chains containing an amino group;
• wherein the polymer is a polyamide, and the polyamide is synthesized by:
• (i) reacting a monomer selected from the group consisting of unsaturated carboxylic acids, esters of unsaturated carboxylic acids, anhydrides of unsaturated carboxylic acids, and mixtures thereof, and a first amine to form an intermediate reaction product, wherein the first amine is selected from the group consisting of RNH2, RR1NH, polyalkylene polyamines and mixtures thereof, and
• (ii) reacting the intermediate reaction product and a second amine to form the polyamide, wherein the second amine is selected from the group consisting of R2NH2, R2R3NH, polyalkylene polyamines and mixtures thereof, wherein R, R1, R2 and R3 can be the same or different and each contain between about 1 and 50 carbon atoms and are optionally substituted with heteroatoms oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus or combinations thereof;
• and at least one of the selected amines includes at least two amino groups;
• (b) mixing the polymer with a crosslinking agent and an antimicrobial agent selected from the group consisting of quaternary ammonium compounds, gentian violet compounds, substituted or unsubstituted phenols, biguanide compounds, iodine compounds, and mixtures thereof, to produce a polymer solution, the crosslinking agent containing at least two crosslinking functional groups capable of reacting with the amino groups;
• and
• (c) coating at least a portion of the substrate with the polymer solution to produce a crosslinked polymer coating on the substrate.

A polyamide material formed from:

• (A) a polyamide formed from a mixture which comprises:
• one or more monomers selected from the group consisting of unsaturated carboxylic acids, esters of unsaturated carboxylic acids, anhydrides of unsaturated carboxylic acids, and mixtures thereof, and one or more amines selected from the group consisting of polyalkylene polyamines and amines having the formula RNH2 or RR1NH, wherein R and R1 contain between 1 and 50 carbon atoms and are optionally substituted with heteroatoms oxygen, nitrogen, sulfer, phosphorus, and combinations thereof, and wherein at least one of the selected amines includes at least two amino groups;
• and
• (B) an antimicrobial agent comprising an agent selected from the group consisting of quaternary ammonium compounds, gentian violet compounds, substituted or unsubstituted phenols, biguanide compounds, iodine compounds, and mixtures thereof;
• (C) a crosslinking agent containing at least two functional groups capable of reacting with amino groups.

A polymeric material comprising:

• (A) a polymer formed by a process comprising:
• reacting a reaction mixture comprising a monomer selected from the group consisting of unsaturated carboxylic acids, esters of unsaturated carboxylic acids, anhydrides of unsaturated carboxylic acids, and mixtures thereof;
• and one or more amines selected from polyalkylene polyamines and amines having the formula RNH2 or RR1NH, wherein R and R1 contain between 1 and 50 carbon atoms and are optionally substituted with heteroatoms oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, and combinations thereof, wherein the selected amine includes at least one amine having at least two amino groups;
• and
• (B) an antimicrobial agent comprising an agent selected from the group consisting of quaternary ammonium compounds, gentian violet compounds, substituted or unsubstituted phenols, biguanide compounds, iodine compounds, and mixtures thereof.