Antibacterial Polyurethanes

Polyurethanes have been widely used for the manufacturing of medical devices due to their excellent mechanical property and good hemocompatibility, but they perform only moderately well in resistance to bacterial adhesion, they are susceptible to bacterial colonization and have a higher risk of infection. The current strategies for antibacterial polyurethanes generally focus on designing antibacterial surfaces to repel or resist bacterial attachment through incorporation or coating with antibiotic agents or surface modification in order to impart an anti-biofouling effect or a bactericidal effect. This chapter reviews developments in antibacterial polyurethanes by addressing anti-adhesive (anti-biofouling) polyurethanes and bactericidal polyurethanes. Anti-adhesive polyurethanes include the techniques of surface modification by chemical or physical topographical approaches, while the bactericidal polyurethanes include contact biocidal polyurethanes and biocidal-releasing polyurethanes. Other strategies and approaches of antibacterial polyurethanes and future perspective are also discussed.