Eco-Friendly Cellulose-Based Nonionic Antimicrobial Polymers with Excellent Biocompatibility, Nonleachability, and Polymer Miscibility

This study aims to prepare natural biomass-based nonionic antimicrobial polymers with excellent biocompatibility, nonleachability, antimicrobial activity, and polymer miscibility. Two new cellulose-based nonionic antimicrobial polymers (MIPA and MICA) containing many terminal indole groups were synthesized using a sustainable one-pot method. The structures and properties of the nonionic antimicrobial polymers were characterized using nuclear magnetic resonance hydrogen spectroscopy (1H NMR), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), wide-angle X-ray diffractometry (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), gel chromatography (GPC), and other analytical techniques. The results showed that microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) molecules combined with indole derivatives through an esterification reaction to produce MICA and MIPA. The crystallinity of the prepared MICA and MIPA molecules decreased after MCC modification; their morphological structure changed from short fibrous to granular and showed better thermal stability and solubility. The paper diffusion method showed that both nonionic polymers had good bactericidal effects against the two common pathogenic bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli, inhibition zone diameters >22 mm) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus, inhibition zone diameters >38 mm). Moreover, MICA and MIPA showed good miscibility with biodegradable poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), and the miscible cellulose-based composite films (PVA-MICA and PVA-MIPA) showed good phase compatibility, light transmission, thermal stability (maximum thermal decomposition temperature >300 °C), biocompatibility, biological cell activity (no cytotoxicity), nonleachability, antimicrobial activity, and mechanical properties (maximum fracture elongation at >390%).

Overview of Antimicrobial Biodegradable Polyester-Based Formulations

As the clinical complications induced by microbial infections are known to have life-threatening side effects, conventional anti-infective therapy is necessary, but not sufficient to overcome these issues. Some of their limitations are connected to drug-related inefficiency or resistance and pathogen-related adaptive modifications. Therefore, there is an urgent need for advanced antimicrobials and antimicrobial devices. A challenging, yet successful route has been the development of new biostatic or biocide agents and biomaterials by considering the indisputable advantages of biopolymers. Polymers are attractive materials due to their physical and chemical properties, such as compositional and structural versatility, tunable reactivity, solubility and degradability, and mechanical and chemical tunability, together with their intrinsic biocompatibility and bioactivity, thus enabling the fabrication of effective pharmacologically active antimicrobial formulations. Besides representing protective or potentiating carriers for conventional drugs, biopolymers possess an impressive ability for conjugation or functionalization. These aspects are key for avoiding malicious side effects or providing targeted and triggered drug delivery (specific and selective cellular targeting), and generally to define their pharmacological efficacy. Moreover, biopolymers can be processed in different forms (particles, fibers, films, membranes, or scaffolds), which prove excellent candidates for modern anti-infective applications. This review contains an overview of antimicrobial polyester-based formulations, centered around the effect of the dimensionality over the properties of the material and the effect of the production route or post-processing actions.

Fabrication of Biodegradable and Biocompatible Functional Polymers for Anti-Infection and Augmenting Wound Repair

The problem of bacteria-induced infections threatens the lives of many patients. Meanwhile, the misuse of antibiotics has led to a significant increase in bacterial resistance. There are two main ways to alleviate the issue: one is to introduce antimicrobial agents to medical devices to get local drug releasing and alleviating systemic toxicity and resistance, and the other is to develop new antimicrobial methods to kill bacteria. New antimicrobial methods include cationic polymers, metal ions, hydrophobic structures to prevent bacterial adhesion, photothermal sterilization, new biocides, etc. Biodegradable biocompatible synthetic polymers have been widely used in the medical field. They are often used in tissue engineering scaffolds as well as wound dressings, where bacterial infections in these medical devices can be serious or even fatal. However, such materials usually do not have inherent antimicrobial properties. They can be used as carriers for drug delivery or compounded with other antimicrobial materials to achieve antimicrobial effects. This review focuses on the antimicrobial behavior, preparation methods, and biocompatibility testing of biodegradable biocompatible synthetic polymers. Degradable biocompatible natural polymers with antimicrobial properties are also briefly described. Finally, the medical applications of these polymeric materials are presented.

Biocompatible non-leachable antimicrobial polymers with a nonionic hyperbranched backbone and phenolic terminal units

This work aimed to develop biocompatible non-leachable antimicrobial polymers without ionic structures. A series of nonionic hyperbranched polymers (HBPs) with an isatin-based backbone and phenolic terminal units were synthesized and characterized. The molecular structures and thermal properties of the obtained HBPs were characterized by SEC, NMR, FTIR, TGA and DSC analyses. Disk diffusion assay revealed significant antibacterial activity of the obtained phenolic HBPs against nine different pathogenic bacteria. The presence of a methoxy or long alkyl group close to the phenolic unit enhanced the antibacterial effect against certain Gram positive and negative bacteria. The obtained nonionic HBPs were blended in polyester poly(hexamethylene terephthalate) films, which showed no noticeable leakage after being immersed in water for 5 days. Finally, these HBPs showed no cytotoxicity effect to MG-63 osteoblast-like human cells according to MTT analysis, and negligible hemolytic effect.