Polymeric Nanoparticles and Nanocomposites as Antibacterial Agents

Abstract

AbstractThe concern of antibiotic resistance is alarming as more bacterial strains acquire resistance against multiple drugs and therefore, infections caused by them are becoming further challenging to treat. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) reports, more than 2.8 million cases of infections due to antibiotic resistance are recorded each year in the United States alone resulting in deaths of about 35,000 people (CDCP 2019). These resistant pathogens besides being a menace in hospital settings, causing nosocomial infections and failure of medical equipment, also pose a threat in food and water industries. Thus, there is an immediate need to address this problem and come up with innovative solutions like fabrication of novel materials or antibacterial agents against which acquiring of resistance can be eradicated. The use of polymeric nanoparticles and creation of polymeric nanocomposites (PNCs) to tackle the problem of antibacterial drug resistance seems like a promising countermeasure which can reduce adhesion and prevent the colonization of bacteria, impede formation of biofilm and kill them. Polymeric nanocomposites are multiphasic composites formed by the amalgamation of two different materials—nanoparticles (NPs) and polymers which results in the creation of a novel substance whose at least one dimension falls in the nanoscale, possessing the intrinsic properties of both the substances along with some new characteristics acquired owing to their synergistic affect (Tamayo et al., Mater Sci Eng C 69:1391–1409, 2016). In this chapter we have discussed about the various polymeric nanoparticles and polymeric composites which have been successfully tested against the different bacterial strains. Also, we have explained the different polymeric nanoparticles and nanocomposites’ synthesis methods and their mechanism of action against the microbes.KeywordsAerosol-based synthesisAntibacterialAntibiotic resistanceBottom-up approachCoprecipitationGreen synthesisInert gas condensationLiposomesMatrix nanocompositeMetallic nanomaterialsMicellesNanocompositesNanoparticlesPlasma-based synthesisPolymersSol-gel methodStar polymeric nanoparticlesSynthesisTop-down approachVesicles