Table 5.

Examples of biocidal polymers for antimicrobial applications.

Polymer	Target	Remark	Reference
Quaternary ammonium polyethyleneimine	Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria	n-alkylated polyethyleneimine has effective antimicrobial activity, dependent on the hydrophobic and positively charged immobilized long polymeric chains	[15]
Quaternary phosphonium modified epoxidized natural rubber	Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli	Moderate growth inhibition of microbes	[48]
Arginine–tryptophan-rich peptide	Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria	Retain antimicrobial functionality for at least 21 days, showing negligible cytotoxicity	[49,50]
Guanylated polymethacrylate	Staphylococcus epidermidis, Candida albicans	Guanidine copolymers were much more active compared to the amine analogues	[51]
Chitosan	Bacteria, yeast, fungi	Widely-used antimicrobial agent either alone or blended with other compounds	[52,53,54]
Ammonium ethyl methacrylate homopolymers	Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli	Very little or no hemolytic activity and higher inhibitory effects against Gram-positive bacteria than Gram-negative bacteria	[55]
Metallo-terpyridine carboxymethyl cellulose	Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus thermophilus, Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cervisiae	Minimum inhibitory concentration ranged from 6 to 8 mg/L to achieve ≥90% inhibition	[56]
Poly(n-vinylimidazole) modified silicone rubber	Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus	More antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa than Staphylococcus aureus	[57]