This paper provides a review of the recent advances made in the field of electroactive polymers and composites for biomedical applications.

Zwitterionic polymers, including polyampholytes and polybetaines, are polymers with both positive and negative charges incorporated into their structure.

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Macromolecular entities, such as polymers, peptides, proteins, and hybrid materials thereof, are herein reviewed as promising antibiofilm agents.

The rise of antimicrobial resistance is at the forefront of global healthcare challenges, with antimicrobial infections on track to overtake cancer as a leading cause of death by 2050. The high effectiveness of antimicrobial enzymes used in combination with the protective, inert nature of polymer materials represents a highly novel approach toward tackling microbial infections. Herein, we have developed biohybrid glucose oxidase-loaded semipermeable polymersome nanoreactors, formed using polymerization-induced self-assembly, and demonstrate for the first time their ability to “switch on” their antimicrobial activity in response to glucose, a ubiquitous environmental stimulus. Using colony-counting assays, it was demonstrated that the nanoreactors facilitate up to a seven-log reduction in bacterial growth at high glucose concentrations against a range of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial pathogens, including a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolate. After demonstrating the antimicrobial properties of these materials, their toxicity against human fibroblasts was assessed and the dosage of the nanoreactors further optimized for use as nontoxic agents against Gram-positive bacteria under physiological blood glucose concentrations. It is envisaged that such biohybrid nanomaterials will become an important new class of antimicrobial biomaterials for the treatment of bacterial infections.

Conductive composites of graphene and a siloxane polyurethane (Elast-Eon™) were prepared to explore their potential for use in biomedical applications.

Several acrylic hydrogels were prepared via ultrasonic polymerization of water soluble monomers and macromonomers. Ultrasound was used to create initiating radicals in viscous aqueous monomer solutions using the additives glycerol, sorbitol or glucose in an open system at 37 degrees C. The water soluble additives were essential for the hydrogel production, glycerol being the most effective. Hydrogels were prepared from the monomers 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate, dextran methacrylate, acrylic acid/ethylene glycol dimethacrylate and acrylamide/bis-acrylamide. For example a 5% w/w solution of dextran methacrylate formed a hydrogel in 6.5min in a 70% w/w solution of glycerol in water at 37 degrees C with 20kHz ultrasound, 56Wcm(-2). The ultrasonic polymerization method described here has a wide range of applications such a biomaterial synthesis where initiators are not desired.

The catalytic system Co/methylaluminoxane/tert‐butyl chloride has been studied and optimized for the polymerization of 1,3‐butadiene to high cis‐1,4‐polybutadiene. The ratio of the individual catalyst components was investigated to achieve maximum conversion, stereoregularity, and molecular weight. It was found that the specific order of addition of catalyst components to the feedstock and aging time therein has critical influence in the polymerization reaction. This can be attributed to the rate of chlorinating the aluminoxane and the stability of the active catalyst sites obtained. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 3277–3284, 1999