Fungicidal Behavior of Polyethyleneimine—Polyacrylic Acid Complexes and Hybrids with Silver Nanoparticles: The Role of Filler and Morphology
- 1Department of Chemistry, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory 1-3, Moscow 119991, Russia
- 2Enikolopov Institute of Synthetic Polymeric Materials, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya st. 70, Moscow 117393, Russia
- 3V.M. Gorbatov Federal Research Center for Food Systems, Talalikhina st., 26, Moscow 109316, Russia
Abstract
Interpolyelectrolyte complexes (IPEC) of polyethyleneimine (PEI) and polyacrylic acid (PAA) have inherent biocidal activity, high affinity for various surfaces and can be modified with fillers; therefore, they can serve as platforms for developing aqueous antifungal formulations and prospective surface-treatment systems. IPEC dispersions with PEI/PAA molar ratios of 3/1 and 1/3, as well as PEI/PAA-Ag+ complexes, were prepared. UV irradiation of the metal–polymer complexes formed nanoparticles up to 30 nm in PEI-rich and 60 nm in PAA-rich complexes, according to spectroscopy and TEM. Electrophoretic mobility measurements revealed high positive +1.22 ± 0.13 and negative −3.6 ± 0.3 (µm·s−1)/(V·cm−1) values for 3PEI/1PAA and 1PEI/3PAA IPEC, respectively, which can be attributed to the formation of colloidal particles with an external arrangement of charged loops and tails of the excess component. The antifungal activity of the formulations was evaluated against six mold strains in suspension assays. PEI-rich complexes showed limited activity, whereas PAA-rich IPEC was inactive without silver. Incorporation of silver nanoparticles markedly enhanced activity; 1PEI/3PAA-Ag inhibited all tested mold strains in suspension. In biofilm formation assays, its efficacy reached 99% against P. polonicum and 85% against A. wentii, respectively. The 3PEI/1PAA-Ag hybrid showed lower efficacy (42% and 87%). Overall, the composites were more effective against developing than preformed biofilms.
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BibTeX
@article{klimov2026fungicidal,
title = {{Fungicidal Behavior of Polyethyleneimine—Polyacrylic Acid Complexes and Hybrids with Silver Nanoparticles: The Role of Filler and Morphology}},
author = {Dmitry Igorevich Klimov and Rodion Alexandrovich Vinogradov and Anastasia A. Semenova and Yulia K. Yushina and Anzhelika A. Makhova and Elena V. Zaiko and Maria A. Grudistova and Elena A. Zezina and Alexey A. Zharikov and Alexey A. Zezin},
journal = {Polymers},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.3390/polym18212772},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/21/2772},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Fungicidal Behavior of Polyethyleneimine—Polyacrylic Acid Complexes and Hybrids with Silver Nanoparticles: The Role of Filler and Morphology
AU - Dmitry Igorevich Klimov
AU - Rodion Alexandrovich Vinogradov
AU - Anastasia A. Semenova
AU - Yulia K. Yushina
AU - Anzhelika A. Makhova
AU - Elena V. Zaiko
AU - Maria A. Grudistova
AU - Elena A. Zezina
AU - Alexey A. Zharikov
AU - Alexey A. Zezin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/06
JO - Polymers
DO - 10.3390/polym18212772
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/21/2772
AB - Interpolyelectrolyte complexes (IPEC) of polyethyleneimine (PEI) and polyacrylic acid (PAA) have inherent biocidal activity, high affinity for various surfaces and can be modified with fillers; therefore, they can serve as platforms for developing aqueous antifungal formulations and prospective surface-treatment systems. IPEC dispersions with PEI/PAA molar ratios of 3/1 and 1/3, as well as PEI/PAA-Ag+ complexes, were prepared. UV irradiation of the metal–polymer complexes formed nanoparticles up to 30 nm in PEI-rich and 60 nm in PAA-rich complexes, according to spectroscopy and TEM. Electrophoretic mobility measurements revealed high positive +1.22 ± 0.13 and negative −3.6 ± 0.3 (µm·s−1)/(V·cm−1) values for 3PEI/1PAA and 1PEI/3PAA IPEC, respectively, which can be attributed to the formation of colloidal particles with an external arrangement of charged loops and tails of the excess component. The antifungal activity of the formulations was evaluated against six mold strains in suspension assays. PEI-rich complexes showed limited activity, whereas PAA-rich IPEC was inactive without silver. Incorporation of silver nanoparticles markedly enhanced activity; 1PEI/3PAA-Ag inhibited all tested mold strains in suspension. In biofilm formation assays, its efficacy reached 99% against P. polonicum and 85% against A. wentii, respectively. The 3PEI/1PAA-Ag hybrid showed lower efficacy (42% and 87%). Overall, the composites were more effective against developing than preformed biofilms.
SN - 2073-4360
ER -