Reactive fibrous materials for decontamination of chemical and biological threats

Polyamines are water-soluble polyelectrolytes with the amino groups that can be used to attach the polymers onto functional surfaces of fibrous materials. In addition, polyamines can be readily modified by (super)nucleophilic groups such as (alkyl)aminopyridines that enhance the polymer’s ability to promote hydrolysis of organophosphorous chemical warfare agents. Furthermore, attachment of hydantoin moieties augments the number of the imide, amide, or amine groups on the polyamine’s chain, which provides oxidizing properties to the resulting modified polyamine after halogenation. We report on polyamines with side chains modified to contain both (4aminopyridine, APy) and 5-(4-hydroxybenzylidene)hydantoin (HBH) functionalities with enhanced content of the active bromine. Virucidal activity of the APy-and HBH-modified polyallylamine against human coronavirus (type 229E) was tested both in solution and on milspec nylon-cotton (NYCO) fabric. The polymers appeared to be effective in inactivation of the coronavirus, at both low concentrations and short exposure times.