Antimicrobial coatings are of increasing interest due to the greater public demand of hygienic living conditions.Three major principles are applied on coatings for this purpose:repelling microbes,killing them on contact,and killing them in close proximity of the surface by releasing a biocide.In order to repel microbes hydrogel-forming non-charged coatings,e.g.,grafted poly(ethylene glycol)(PEG),are used,which only functions in an aqueous environment.Another possibility for a microbe-repellant surface is to render the material ultrahydrophobic(contact angle greater 150 deg );an approach that works for dry and moist environments,but unfortunately not in the presence of householdtypical surfactants.Grafting antimicrobial polymers,such as N-alkylated poly(4-vinylpyridine)and polymeric phosphonium salts results in surfaces that are capable of killing microbes on contact.3,4)Also coatings based on photocatalytic TiO_2 can be interpreted as surface that kills approaching
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