Novel guanidine-based antimicrobial polymer with synergistic wet strength and antimicrobial activity was synthesized from Guanidine hydrochloride

hexamethylene diamine

diethylenetriamine and epichlorohydrin. 2D NMR (H- H COSY) was used to characterize the molecular structure of the synthesized polymer. The minimum inhibition concentration of the guanidine-based antimicrobial polymer was investigated as well as its effect on increasing the wet strength of paper. The UV absorption measurements and confocal laser scanning microscopy were also used to further explore the antimicrobial mechanism of it. It was found that the antimicrobial guanidine-based polymer inhibited the growth of bacteria by destroying cell membrane of bacteria and causing the leakage of intracellular components from cells.