The excessive use of antibiotics has led to the development of antimicrobial resistance and, in turn, to the inefficiency of actual drugs. Therefore, scientists have recently focused on conceiving new antimicrobials with a longer duration of action and a minimum environmental toxicity, such as polymers modified with quaternary ammonium moieties. Indeed, these quaternary ammonium moieties have a net positive charge that interacts better with and inhibit negatively charged microorganisms. This article reviews natural and synthetic polymers modified with quaternary ammonium moieties with focus on biocompatible polymers. Polymers include cashew gum, cellulose, chitosan, dextran, polylactide, pullulan, starch, polyamidoamine, polyurethane, polysiloxane, polymethacrylate and polyethylene. The interaction of new antimicrobials with a wide range of bacteria and fungi is controlled by microenvironmental factors and polymer properties. The use of other functional groups or chemical compounds in synergy with quaternary ammonium moieties is actually emerging to improve the efficiency.

抗生素的过度使用导致抗菌素耐药性的发展，进而导致实际药物的无效性。因此，科学家最近集中在构思具有更长的作用时间和最小的环境毒性的新的抗菌剂，例如用季铵部分改性的聚合物。实际上，这些季铵基团具有净正电荷，可与微生物更好地相互作用并抑制其带负电荷。本文介绍了用季铵部分改性的天然和合成聚合物，重点是生物相容性聚合物。聚合物包括腰果胶，纤维素，壳聚糖，右旋糖酐，聚丙交酯，支链淀粉，淀粉，聚酰胺酰胺，聚氨酯，聚硅氧烷，聚甲基丙烯酸酯和聚乙烯。新的抗微生物剂与各种细菌和真菌的相互作用受微环境因素和聚合物特性的控制。实际上已经出现了与季铵基团协同作用的其他官能团或化合物的使用，以提高效率。