Study on UV-cured antimicrobial coatings with epoxy resin quaternary ammonium salt

Abstract

This study aims to develop Ultraviolet-cured (UV-cured) antimicrobial coatings by dispersing epoxy resin F51–quaternary ammonium salt (QAS) as antimicrobial agents in UV-cured emulsions. The molecular structures of these F51–QAS coatings were analyzed using infrared spectroscopy. Thermogravimetric analysis was performed to evaluate the thermal stability of the antimicrobial coatings. Contact angle testing was conducted to investigate the hygroscopic wettability of the coatings. Mechanical properties such as pencil hardness, adhesion strength, flexibility and impact resistance were evaluated. Antimicrobial rate experiments were conducted to examine the antimicrobial properties of the coatings. The antimicrobial properties were examined through rate experiments against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The results showed that when the F51–QAS content was at 2.7%, the UV-cured antimicrobial coatings exhibited excellent overall performance with a 100% antimicrobial rate.