New Paper Accepted in Eur. J. Pharm. Biopharm.

Our research with Cameron Alexander and Klaus Winzer (Nottingham) on the effect of pH and polymer composition on bacteria clustering by polymers has been accepted for publication in the European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics (Open Access). This work shows that the ability of the polymers to form clusters of bacteria is highly dependent on the pH of the environment. Interestingly, clustering is reinforced by the presence of catechol moieties. However, these catechols are not able to trigger aggregation on their own. Not surprisingly, the ability of the polymers to cluster bacteria is highly dependent on the nature of the bacteria. Overall, this research shows the importance of understanding the parameters that dictate polymer-bacteria interactions in the design of novel antimicrobial polymers.