A photoactive antimicrobial triphenylmethane derivative

Abstract

The feasibility of a methane derivative TPM as a photoactive antimicrobial agent was tested by preparing a thin polystyrene (PS) film containing TPM by spin-coating of a chloroform solution containing PS and TPM on a glass substrate. Irradiation of UV light to the film resulted in the gradual increase of the absorption in the visible region, confirming the successful generation of minimum product in the polymer film. Antimicrobial properties of the TPM containing PS films against Staphylococcus aureus were also investigated. Results indicate that the UV irradiated TPM molecules are able to inhibit effectively the growth of the Staphylococcus aureus. The UV-irradiated formation of minimum ion species from TPM was evidenced by observing color change of the Petri dish. The Petri dish that contains only pristine PS film did not show any color change after UV irradiation.