(76b) Designing Sustainable Materials That Interface with Microorganisms: From Antibacterial to Living Materials

Due to the persistent spread of antibiotic resistance among microorganisms, commercial antibiotic treatments are proving ineffective. Their lack of effectiveness coupled with the slow discovery of alternative commercial antibiotics has inspired our group to investigate alternative approaches to combating opportunistic human pathogens. Our research team investigates bioinspired and green chemistry approaches to design new polymeric materials that have controlled interactions with microorganisms. Engineering materials to have antibacterial or antifouling properties describes the two main approaches that we have taken to delay biofouling by killing or repelling bacteria, respectively. Most recently, we have taken an emerging approach, engineered living materials, which is to maintain the viability of the cells so that the living bacteria can provide probiotic functionality. This presentation will highlight a few example polymeric materials that have been designed to inactivate, repel, and maintain the viability of microorganisms using green chemistry and polymer science approaches. If time allows, our recent investigations into using charge-driven assembly to manufacture antifouling and antibacterial membranes will be discussed.