A facile preparation of a novel non-leaching antimicrobial waterborne polyurethane leather coating functionalized by quaternary phosphonium salt

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this research is to develop a novel non-leaching antimicrobial waterborne polyurethane (WPU) leather coating material with covalently attached quaternary phosphonium salt (QPS). The structure of the QPS-bearing WPU has been identified, and their thermal stability, mechanical property, and antimicrobial performance have been investigated. The results reveal that the incorporation of QPS slightly reduces the thermal stability of WPU material but would not affects its usability as leather coating. Despite the presence of hydrophobic benzene in QPS structure, the strong hydration of its cationic groups leads to the increased surface contact angle (SCA) and water absorption rate (WAR) of the films, suggesting that the water resistance of the films needs to be improved for the purpose of leather coatings. Antibacterial tests demonstrate that when the QPS content is 20 wt%, QPS-bearing WPU shows effective antimicrobial activity against bacteria. The WPU containing QPS prepared in this study is a non-leaching antimicrobial material and has great potential application as leather coating. Graphical abstract

Keywords

• Polyurethane
• Leather coating
• Quaternary phosphonium salt
• Non-leaching
• Antimicrobial