Conjugated Polymers for Combatting Antimicrobial Resistance

Comprehensive Summary Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the major challenges in pathogenic infections, which endangers human health and brings devastating public health threats. Therefore, developing new materials to reduce the over-reliance on antibiotics or to replace antibiotics is in great need to solve this problem. Conjugated polymers (CPs) with excellent light-harvesting properties and good biocompatibility are ideal candidate materials for combatting AMR through photodynamic antimicrobial therapy (PACT) by sensitizing oxygen and photothermal therapy (PTT) by light to heat conversion. Significant works of CPs-based antimicrobial approaches have been reported in recent years. Herein, we summarize the types of CPs-based antimicrobial materials, illustrate their antimicrobial mechanisms, and discuss their applications in combating AMR mainly by PACT or antimicrobial PTT. In addition, we proposed some other antimicrobial treatment strategies based on CPs, hoping to provide inspiring insight for overcoming AMR. [GRAPHICS]