Abstract:

Significance Microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and viruses can grow rapidly on fibrous carriers under suitable temperature and humidity conditions, which not only shortens the service life of textile materials, but also poses a fatal threat to human health. Therefore, the development of textile materials with effective antibacterial properties is crucial for public safety. Antibacterial textiles can effectively inhibit the growth of microorganisms and protect human health by reducing the risk of disease caused by pathogenic virus transmission. Several types of antibacterial agents have been developed, such as quaternary ammonium salts, chitosan, polyguanidine, metal ions/compounds and N-halamine compounds. Among these, N-halamine antibacterial agents have been widely used due to their excellent efficacy, broad-spectrum, long-lasting antibacterial properties as well as unique regenerability. The halogens in the N-X bond (X representing Cl, Br, I) in the N-halamine compounds can release bactericidal ions with oxidising properties to kill microorganisms.

Progress Herein, the structure, characteristics and antibacterial mechanism of N-halamine antibacterial agents were briefly described. N-halamine antibacterial agents are compounds that contain N-X covalent bonds in their structure, which are oxidised from N-H bonds by sodium hypochlorite and then endowed with antibacterial effect. The structure of N-halamine amines can be divided into chloramines, bromamines and iodamines according to the different halogen atoms, and divided into amines, amides and imides according to the different nitrogen compounds, respectively. The inactivation mechanism of N-halamine antibacterial agents can be classified into contact killing, release killing and transfer killing. Meanwhile, the preparation of N-halamine antibacterial materials were reviewed, which was based on the surface modification technology and co-modification technology, respectively. The surface modification technology included pad-dry-cure, grafting and coating, and the co-modification technology included electrostatic spinning, sol-gel and 3D printing technology. N-halamine compounds can be applied to various substrates through chemical modification and N-halamine antibacterial agents are under rapid development and are widely used in a variety of applications. The applications of N-halamine antibacterial materials in the fields of antibacterial textiles, water treatment, medical materials, food packaging and air filtration were described, with the prospect of further applications in the future.

Conclusion and Prospect With the growing concern for public health and the environment, the demand for antibacterial agents and safe materials is increasing. N-halamine antibacterial agents have been widely used due to their good stability, remarkable regenerability, broad-spectrum and efficient antibacterial properties, which play an important role in promoting the development of antibacterial materials. However, the N—Cl bonds in N-halamine compounds are tend to degradation under UV light, which can lead to problems such as aging and degradation of antibacterial materials. N-halamine antibacterials contain chemicals that may pose toxicity risks if used in excess, which may also have a negative impact on the ecosystem. The manufacturing process of antibacterial agents is also complicated and costly. Therefore, the research and development of new N-halamine antibacterial agents that are friendly to the environment and human body and have good compatibility with materials, is one of the directions for future development of N-halamine antibacterial agents. At present, the development of N-halamine antibacterial agents is still in progress, and its in-depth study is of great significance.

Key words: N-halamine, antibacterial, modification, antibacterial mechanism, functional fiber, functional textile