ABSTRACT
Contamination by microorganisms is a major problem that affects different areas such as medicine, health care, or industry. For example, infections associated with biolm formation in medical implants are becoming very common in hospitals. Very frequently, biolms have high resistance to antibacterial
9.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 216 9.2 Bacteria Adhesion and Biocide Mechanism of Antimicrobial Polymers ..... 218 9.3 Factors Affecting Antimicrobial Activity of Polymers ................................ 219
9.3.1 Effect of Molecular Weight .............................................................. 219 9.3.2 Nanostructure Size ........................................................................... 219 9.3.3 Hydrophobicity ................................................................................. 221 9.3.4 Counterion Effect ............................................................................. 222 9.3.5 Effect of Spacer Length and Alkyl Chain ........................................ 222
9.4 Nanostructured Antimicrobial Polymers ...................................................... 223 9.4.1 Natural Antimicrobial Polymers ...................................................... 223
9.4.1.1 Chitosan Nanoparticles ...................................................... 223 9.4.1.2 Peptides ..............................................................................225
