Methods for attaching polymerizable ceragenins to water treatment membranes using amine and amide linkages

A method of attaching alkene-functionalized ceragenins to a surface of a polymer substrate using ultraviolet light (UV), comprising, in the order listed:

• a) providing a polymer substrate;
• b) depositing a UV-absorbing photoinitiator on a surface of the substrate;
• c) contacting the surface of the substrate with a monomer solution comprising an alkene-functionalized ceragenin monomer, a comonomer, and a solvent;
• d) exposing the monomer solution contacting the surface to UV light, thereby forming radicals that initiate a polymerization reaction;
• and
• e) forming ceragenin-containing copolymer reaction products that are chemically grafted to the surface of the polymer substrate.

A method of attaching N-hydroxysuccinimide-functionalized ceragenins to a surface of a polyamide substrate comprising, in the order listed:

• a) providing a polyamide substrate with free amine groups on a surface of the substrate;
• and
• b) attaching a N-hydroxysuccinimide-functionalized ceragenin to each free amine group in a monomer solution;
• thereby forming a layer of ceragenin molecules that are attached to the polyamide substrate via amide linkages;
• wherein the monomer solution further comprises a surfactant or wetting agent.