A survey of the most recent progress in the biomedical applications of metal-containing polymers is given. Due to the unique optical, electrochemical, and magnetic properties, at least 30 different metal elements, most of them transition metals, are introduced into polymeric frameworks for interactions with biology-relevant substrates via various means. Inspired by the advance of metal-containing small molecular drugs and promoted by the great progess in polymer chemistry, metal-containing polymers have gained momentum during recent decades. According to their different applications, this review summarizes the following biomedical applications: 1) metal-containing polymers as drug delivery vehicles; 2) metal-containing polymeric drugs and biocides, including antimicrobial and antiviral agents, anticancer drugs, photodynamic therapy agents, radiotherapy and biocide; 3) metal-containing polymers as biosensors, and 4) metal-containing polymers in bioimaging.

Bacteria are now becoming more resistant to most conventional antibiotics. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a complex of multidrug-resistant Gram-positive bacterial strains, has proven especially problematic in both hospital and community settings by deactivating conventional β-lactam antibiotics, including penicillins, cephalosporins, and carbapenems, through various mechanisms, resulting in increased mortality rates and hospitalization costs. Here we introduce a class of charged metallopolymers that exhibit synergistic effects against MRSA by efficiently inhibiting activity of β-lactamase and effectively lysing bacterial cells. Various conventional β-lactam antibiotics, including penicillin-G, amoxicillin, ampicillin, and cefazolin, are protected from β-lactamase hydrolysis via the formation of unique ion-pairs between their carboxylate anions and cationic cobaltocenium moieties. These discoveries could provide a new pathway for designing macromolecular scaffolds to regenerate vitality of conventional antibiotics to kill multidrug-resistant bacteria and superbugs.

Extensive attention has been received in recent years for perovskite-polymer composites because of their combination of properties from polymers and perovskites. In this work, a convenient and universal strategy is reported to prepare cesium lead bromide or organolead halide methylammonium bromide polymer composites. This technique integrates the formation of perovskite crystals and the polymer matrix in a one-pot reaction, avoiding the tedious separation and preparation of perovskites. The method is universal for most of the commercially available monomers and polymers, which has been verified in this report using poly(methyl methacrylate), poly(butyl methacrylate), and polystyrene. The physical properties of the varied polymers lead to different luminescent properties and stabilities of the composites. No organic solvent is required during the preparation, indicating a green technique for the composites. Additionally, the resulted perovskite-polymer composites are extraordinarily stable, maintaining their quantum yield for more than 1 month in air. On the basis of the above properties, a prototype of white light-emitting diodes was successfully constructed with feasible color characters and narrow bandwidths. Furthermore, large-area (dimension: 10 × 7 × 0.15 cm) perovskite-polymer plates are easily prepared via the one-pot strategy, showing that the technique is ready for possible large-area optical devices. This work provides an efficient technique toward various kinds of perovskite-polymer composites for both scientific research studies and future applications.