Anthraquinone-Polyaniline-Integrated Textile Platforms for In Situ Electrochemical Production of Hydrogen Peroxide for Microbial Deactivation

Hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) is a versatile and effective disinfectant against common pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli (E. coli). Electrochemical H(2)O(2) generation has been studied in the past, but a lack of studies exists on miniaturized electrochemical platforms for the on-demand synthesis of H(2)O(2) for antibacterial applications. In this article, a chemically modified cotton textile platform capable of in situ H(2)O(2) production is demonstrated for E. coli deactivation. The cotton textile was modified by layer-by-layer coating with conductive carbon nanotubes/cellulose nanocrystals (CNT/CNC) and a polymer of polyaniline (PANI) decorated with anthraquinone (AQ), designated as the AQ@PANI@CNT/CNC@textile antibacterial patch. The AQ@PANI@CNT/CNC@textile antibacterial textile patch H(2)O(2) production capabilities were evaluated using both electrochemical and colorimetric methods. The AQ@PANI@CNT/CNC@textile antibacterial patch electrochemically produced H(2)O(2) concentrations up to 209 ± 25 µM over a 40 min period and displayed a log reduction of 3.32 for E. coli over a period of 2 h. The AQ@PANI@CNT/CNC@textile antibacterial patch offers promise for use as a self-disinfecting pathogen control platform.