ANTIBACTERIAL

PROPERTIES OF POLYMER
Name:- Umm-e-Ammara
Roll No:- BSCH-16-51
Programme:- BS Chemistry (Hons.)
Major:- Physical Chemistry
Session:- 2016-2020 (Morning)
Submitted to:- Ma’am Amna Akram
Date :- 01-12-19

Contents

Title Page No.

1. Summary 3

2. Introduction 3

3. Process of functioning 4

4. Factors affecting antimicrobial activity 4

i. Molecular weight 4

ii. Counter ion 4

iii. Alkyl chain length 5

5. Requirements of antimicrobial polymer 5

6. Applications 5

i. Water treatment 5

ii. Food applications 5

iii. Medicine and health care 5

7. Disadvantages 6

8. Task given 6

9. Conclusion 7

10. References 8

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 List of tables and figures

Title Page No.

1. Table # 1 4

2. Figure # 1 3

3. Figure # 2 4

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 Antibacterial Properties Of Biopolymers

Summary

Antimicrobial polymers, also known as polymeric biocides and antibacterial polymers, are a
class of polymers that have antimicrobial activity or are capable of inhibiting the growth of
microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, or protozoans. These polymers are designed to mimic
antimicrobial peptides used by immune systems to kill bacteria. Typically, antimicrobial
polymers are produced by attaching or docking an active antimicrobial agent to a polymer
backbone via an alkyl or acetyl linker. While antimicrobial polymers can enhance the
productivity and selectivity of currently used antimicrobial agents, antimicrobial polymers
reduce environmental hazards, since they are generally non-volatile and chemically
stable. This makes it an important candidate for water health in the food industry to prevent
bacterial contamination and to prevent the growth of microorganisms in potable water and in
medicine industry as means of combatting with infection. The increasing prevalence of
antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, coupled with the decline in the number of new antibiotic
drug approvals, has created a therapeutic gap that portends an emergent public health crisis. Since
the 1980s, host defence peptides (HDPs) have been recognized as antibacterial compounds that do
not induce resistance, but are hampered by their high cost and lack of synthetic scalability. Starting
in the early 2000s, synthetic (co)polymers have been designed to mimic the salient physiochemical
features of HDPs. These polymers have shown broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, rapid
bactericidal kinetics, and a very low propensity to induce resistance.

Introduction

 Antimicrobial polymers are the materials having the capability to kill/inhibit the growth of
microbes on their surface or surrounding environment. Moreover, with unique chain
structures and functional groups, antimicrobial polymers often generate high antimicrobial
activity without inducing drug resistance; and meanwhile eliminate the leaching-out effects
that are encountered by conventional antimicrobial agents with low molecular weights. The
high retention and effective grafting of antimicrobial polymers render various substrates or
materials antimicrobial, such as cellulose fibres, textiles, composites and coating materials.
Antimicrobial polymers have recently emerged as a new weapon material to combat
microbial contamination owing to their unique properties. In this Special Issue, the main
strategies are pursued for developing antimicrobial polymers, including polymer
impregnation with antimicrobial agents or synthesis of polymers bearing antimicrobial
moieties to address the health and environmental concerns.  The future application of these
polymers, either in industrial or healthcare sectors, is anticipated to lead to extremely positive
impacts, not only at the economic level, but also for the improvement of quality of life.

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Process Of Functioning

Antimicrobial agents kill bacteria through different methods depending on the type of
bacteria. Most antiseptics and disinfectants kill bacteria immediately on contact by causing
the bacterial cell to burst, or by depleting the bacteria's source of food preventing bacterial
reproduction, also known as bacterial conjugation. Antimicrobial polymers commonly kill
bacteria through this first method, which is accomplished through a series of steps. First, the
polymer must adsorb onto the bacterial cell wall. Most bacterial surfaces are negatively
charged, therefore the adsorption of polymeric cations has proved to be more effective than
adsorption of polymeric anions. The antimicrobial agent must then diffuse through the cell
wall and adsorb onto the cytoplasmic membrane. Small molecule antimicrobial agents excel
at the diffusion step due to their low molecular weight, while adsorption is better achieved by
antimicrobial polymers. The disruption of the cytoplasmic membrane and subsequent leakage
of cytoplasmic constituents leads to the death of the cell.

Comparison of small molecule antimicrobial agents and antimicrobial polymers are shown in
the following table:

 Factors Affecting Antimicrobial Activity

1. Molecular Weight

The molecular weight of the polymer is perhaps one of the most important properties
to consider when determining antimicrobial properties because antimicrobial activity
is markedly dependent on the molecular weight. It has been determined that optimal
activity is achieved when polymers have a molecular weight in the range of
1.4x104 Da to 9.4x104 Da.

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 2. Counter Ion

Most bacterial cell walls are negatively charged, therefore most antimicrobial
polymers must be positively charged to facilitate the adsorption process. The structure
of the counter ion, or the ion associated with the polymer to balance charge, also
affects the antimicrobial activity. 

3. Alkyl Chain Length

The spacer length or alkyl chain length refers to the length of the carbon chain that
composes the polymer backbone. The length of this chain has been investigated to see
if it affects the antimicrobial activity of the polymer. Results have generally shown
that longer alkyl chains have resulted in higher activity. 

Requirements Of an Antimicrobial Polymer

 The synthesis of the polymer should be easy and relatively inexpensive. To be

produced on an industrial scale the synthetic route should ideally utilize techniques that
have already been well developed.
 The polymer should have a long shelf life, or be stable over long periods of time. It
should be able to be stored at the temperature for which it is intended for use.
 If the polymer is to be used for the disinfection of water, then it should be insoluble in
water to prevent toxicity issues (as is the case with some current small molecule
antimicrobial agents).
 The polymer should not decompose during use, or emit toxic residues.
 The polymer should not be toxic or irritating to those during handling.
 Antimicrobial activity should be able to be regenerated upon loss of activity.
 Antimicrobial polymers should be biocidal to a broad range
of pathogenic microorganisms in brief times of contact.

Applications

a) Water Treatment

Polymeric disinfectants are ideal for applications in hand-held water filters, surface
coatings, and fibrous disinfectants, because they can be fabricated by various
techniques and can be made insoluble in water. The design of insoluble contact
disinfectants that can inactivate, kill, or remove target microorganisms by mere
contact without releasing any reactive agents to the bulk phase being disinfected is
desired.

b) Food Applications

Antimicrobial substances that are incorporated into packaging materials can control
microbial contamination by reducing the growth rate and the maximum growth
population. This is done by extending the lag phase of the target microorganism or by
inactivating the microorganisms on contact. One of these applications is to extend the
shelf life of food and promote safety by reducing the rate of growth of
microorganisms when the package is in contact with the surfaces of solid foods, for

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 example, meat, cheese, etc. Second, antimicrobial packaging materials greatly reduce
the potential for recontamination of processed products and simplify the treatment of
materials to eliminate product contamination.

c) Medicine And Healthcare

Antimicrobial polymers are powerful candidates for controlled delivery systems and
implants in dental restorative materials because of their high activities. This can be
ascribed to their characteristic nature of carrying a high local charge density of active
groups in the vicinity of the polymer chains.

For example

Electro spun fibres containing tetracycline hydrochloride based on poly(ethylene-co-

vinyl acetate), poly(lactic acid), and blending were prepared to use as an antimicrobial
wound dressing.

Disadvantages

 A major disadvantage of antimicrobial polymers is that macromolecules are very

large and thus may not act as fast as small molecule agents.

 Biocidal polymers that require contact times on the order of hours to provide
substantial reductions in pathogens, really have no practical value. Seconds, or
minutes at most, should be the contact time goal for a real application.

 Furthermore, if the structural modification to the polymer caused by biocidal

functionalization adversely affects the intended use, the polymer will be of no
practical value. For example, if a fibre that must be exposed to aqueous bleach to
render it antimicrobial (an N-halimane polymer) is weakened by that exposure, or its
dye is bleached, it will have limited use.

Task given

a) HDP’s

Host defence peptides (HDPs) are short, cationic amphipathic peptides with diverse
sequences that are produced by various cells and tissues in all complex life forms.
HDPs have important roles in the body's response to infection and inflammation.

b) Impregnation

to cause something, usually a solid substance, to absorb something, usually a liquid.

c) Time Kill Kinetics

The Time-kill kinetics assay is used to study the activity of an antimicrobial agent

against a bacterial strain and can determine the bactericidal or bacteriostatic activity
of an agent over time.

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 d) Antimicrobial Agent

A natural or synthetic substance that kills or inhibits the growth of microorganisms

such as bacteria, fungi and algae.

e) Lag Phase

Lag phase represents the earliest and most poorly understood stage of the bacterial
growth cycle.

f) Dental Restorative Material

Dental restorative method make the reconstruction of the dental hard tissues possible.

In many areas, the development of dental materials has progressed more rapidly than
for other anatomical prostheses. Because of their long-term success, patients often
expect dental prostheses to outperform the natural materials they replace.

g) Electro spun fibers

Electro spun fibers are potent carriers to load multiple antiretrovirals. The latter drugs
play a pivotal role to fight the sexually transmitted infections including HIV. The
antiretroviral can be used at vagina or rectum. Various drug delivery carriers such as
hydrogel tablets are used for internal drug delivery. 

h) Biocide

A diverse group of poisonous substances including preservatives, insecticides,

disinfectants, and pesticides used for the control of organisms that are harmful to
human or animal health or that cause damage to natural or manufactured products.

i) Microbial adhesion

Microbial adhesion to surfaces is the onset of the development of a biofilm.

j) Biofilm

A biofilm comprises any syntrophic consortium of microorganisms in

which cells stick to each other and often also to a surface. These adherent cells
become embedded within a slimy extracellular matrix that is composed
of extracellular polymeric substances.

Conclusion

The field of antimicrobial polymers has progressed steadily, but slowly over the past years,
and appears to be on the verge of rapid expansion. This is evidenced by a broad variety of
new classes of compounds that have been prepared and studied in the past few years.
Modification of polymers and fibrous surfaces, and changing the porosity, wettability, and
other characteristics of the polymeric substrates, should produce implants and biomedical
devices with greater resistance to microbial adhesion and biofilm formation. A number of
polymers have been developed that can be incorporated into cellulose and other materials,

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which should provide significant advances in many fields such as food packaging, textiles,
wound dressing, coating of catheter tubes, and necessarily sterile surfaces.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimicrobial_polymer#Process

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/materials-science/antimicrobial-polymer

https://newsroom.wiley.com/press-release/angewandte-chemie-international-
edition/antibacterial-polymers-surprising-antibacteria

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6600223/

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2018/py/c8py00012c#!divAbstract

https://polser.com/en/news/what-is-antimicrobial-polymer

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305483755_Recent_Developments_in_Antimicrobi
al_Polymers_A_Review

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/polymers/special_issues/antimicrobial_polymers

https://www.nature.com/articles/nri.2016.29

https://emerypharma.com/biology/time-kill-kinetics-assay/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/dental-restorative-material

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/electrospun-fiber

https://cmr.asm.org/content/19/1/127