1.1 INTRODUCTION
The fight against emerging microbial/viral infections remains a worldwide challenge. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), infectious disease control regarding microbial/viral inactivation continues to be a matter for serious concern. Infections caused by microorganisms are a significant source of concern in a variety of industries, including medical devices, drugs, hospital surfaces/furniture, dental restoration and surgery equipment, health care products and hygienic applications, water purification systems, textiles, food packaging, and storage, major or domestic appliances, aeronautics, and so forth [1].
Microbial/viral contaminants are viable on any contacting surfaces that become harmful to health and safety. Antimicrobial/antiviral technologies can be well defined as stuff that enables to harm or disable the progression and replication of bacteria/ viruses. Recently, polymeric-, metallic-, and ceramic-based composite materials that are resistant to microorganisms have received much attention.
Among all kinds of materials, polymeric materials, including natural polymers, are suitable for preparing antimicrobial materials such as films and coatings [2]. Antiviral polymers are made by combining an organic backbone with electrically charged moieties like polyanions (such as carboxylate-containing polymers) or polycations (such as quaternary ammonium containing polymers) to produce ion-containing polymers with antiviral characteristics [3].
Interestingly, natural materials like copper and wood are the most effective at both killing germs and stopping bacteria from reproducing. Copper and its alloys, such as brass and bronze, have the intrinsic capacity to kill a wide range of dangerous bacteria relatively quickly and effectively [4-5]. Many herbal antimicrobial agents are available in nature, such as clove, portulaca, Tribulus, eryngium, cinnamon. turmeric, ginger, thyme, pennyroyal, mint, fennel, chamomile, burdock, eucalyptus, primrose, lemon balm, mallow, and garlic [6].
Of the unique features of metals, metal-based antimicrobial macromolecules are emerging as a viable alternative to traditional platforms because they combine many modes of action into a single platform [7]. Because of the primary microbicidal properties associated with these materials, viz. silver, silver oxide, titanium, zinc oxide, nickel, copper, copper oxide, gold, aluminum oxide, magnesium oxide, antimicrobial metallic materials, and their uses have grown tremendously [4|.
Antiviral and viricidal coatings are developed using various ways, including altering the surface of a substrate with antiviral polymers, including metal ions/oxides, and using functional nanoparticles [8]. Antibacterial and antiviral materials of diverse kinds, such as small-molecule organics, synthetic, and biodegradable polymers, silver, TiO2, and copper-derived compounds, play an important role in treating infectious diseases caused by bacteria and viruses, both expected and unforeseen [9].
Positively charged polymers with hydrophobic chains promise antibacterial reagents with a broad antimicrobial spectrum and long persistence [10]. Poly(para-phenylene ethynylene) (PPE), poly(para-phenylene vinylene) (PPV), and poly(diacetylene) (PDA) are conjugated polymeric materials with unique size and structure-dependent chemical and photophysical properties, as well as strong photoinducible antibacterial activity [11]. In a recent study, sodium pentaborate pentahydrate and triclosan are applied to cotton fabrics in order to gain antimicrobial and antiviral properties [12].
Metals or metal nanoparticles can be used to make antibacterial polymeric materials, which have many potentials. Antibacterial polymer-based materials are especially true in situations involving food contact and packaging [13]. Antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antimatrix metalloproteinase properties have all been discovered in quaternary ammonium compounds [14]. Significant discoveries in the field of nanobiomedicine have occurred in areas and numbers that indicate that metal oxide nanoparticles have immense application potential and market value [15]. Graphene and graphene-related materials (GRMs) have a wide range of exciting physicochemical, electrical, optical, antiviral, antibacterial, and other properties [16].
Recent breakthroughs in plasma-assisted surface functionalization of polymer surfaces show that plasma-assisted surface functionalization techniques for synthesizing antiviral polymers with targeted antiviral applications spanning from in vitro prevention to in vivo therapy are promising [17]. The antimicrobial study found that antimicrobial efficiency was influenced by zinc oxide content, with antimicrobial materials having the most action against gram-negative bacteria [18]. N,N-dodecyl, methyl-polyurethane (Quat-12-PU), a polyurethane-based antimicrobial polymer, with high antiviral and antibacterial activity when coated onto surfaces and antibacterial activity when electrospun into nanofibers [19].
For industrial and biomedical applications, antibacterial gum-based biocomposites were employed. Microbial gums, plant exudate gums, and seed gums are all types of antimicrobial gums. In the biomedical field, naturally occurring gum polysaccharides have various uses [20]. The as-synthesized star polymers show promise in antibacterial and antiviral applications [21]. Photoinduced antimicrobial vitamin K compounds-containing nanofibrous membranes (VNFMs) could offer fresh insights into the production of non-toxic, reusable photoinduced antimicrobial materials that could be used in personal protective equipment to increase biological protection [22].
