Synthesis, electrospinning, and molecular docking of poly(methyl methacrylate) Schiff bases and their applications as polymeric antimicrobial agents and for dye removal

Abstract

The antibacterial activity of a variety of modified poly(methyl methacrylate) Schiff bases against common microbial infections and removal of methylene blue (MB) dye were screened. The Schiff bases were synthesized from the reaction of the modified (PMMA) with vanillin (PMMA)Van and cinnamaldehyde (PMMA)Cin. By using Fourier transformer infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the structures of the nanofibers of the synthesized Schiff bases were confirmed. The modified Kirky–Bauer method was used to screen the antibacterial activities of all the obtained materials against various bacterial species, including gram-positive bacterial (Bacillus subtilis (4k1p), Staphylococcus aureus), Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli (7ab3), Pseudomonas aeruginosa). Inhibition zones against gram-positive bacteria ranged in diameter from 7 to 14 mm, whereas for the Gram-negative bacteria, the inhibition zones found to be ranged between 6 and 13 mm. With a minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of 8 mg/mL and a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 2 mg/mL, (PMMA)Van shown the greatest antibacterial activity.