In-situ synthesis of acylated sodium alginate-g-(tetrahydrofuran5-b-polyisobutylene) terpolymer/Ag-NPs nanocomposites

Marine polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, and silica for drug delivery systems: A review

Marine environments represent an incredible source of biopolymers with potential biomedical applications. Recently, drug delivery studies have received great attention for the increasing need to improve site specificity, therapeutic value, and bioavailability, reducing off-target effects. Marine polymers, such as alginate, carrageenan, collagen, chitosan, and silica, have reported unique biochemical features, allowing an efficient binding with drugs, and a controlled release to the target tissue, also obtainable through "green processes". In the present review, we i) analysed the last ten years of scientific peer-reviewed literature; ii) divided the articles based on the achieved experimental phases, tagged as chemistry, drug release, and drug delivery, and iii) compared the best performances among marine polymers extracted from micro- and macro-organisms. Many reviews describe drug carriers from marine organisms, focusing on a single biopolymer or a chemical class. Our study is a groundbreaking literature collection, representing the first thorough investigation of all marine biopolymers described. Most articles report experimental results on the chemical characterisation of marine biopolymers and their in vitro behaviour as drug carriers, although development processes and commercial applications are still in the early stages. Hence, the next efforts should be focused on the sustainable production of marine polymers and final product development.

Performant removal of creatinine using few-layer-graphene/alginate beads as a kidney filter

Reduction of renal function, such as creatinine adsorption is one of the most common and dangerous diseases. Dedicated to this issue, developing high-performance, sustainable, and bio-compatible adsorbing materials is still challenging. Herein, barium alginate (BA) and BA containing few-layer graphene (FLG/BA) beads were synthesized in water from sodium alginate, also acting as bio-surfactant in in-situ exfoliation of graphite to FLG. The physicochemical characteristics of the beads demonstrated an excess of barium chloride used as a cross-linker. The efficiency and sorption capacity (Q_e) of creatinine removal increase with processing duration reaching 82.1, 99.5 %, and 68.4, 82.9 mg·g^-1 for BA and FLG/BA, respectively. The thermodynamic parameters detect the enthalpy change (ΔH°) of about -24.29 and -36.11 kJ·mol^-1 and the entropy change (ΔS°) of around -69.24 and -79.46 kJ·mol^-1 for BA and FLG/BA, respectively. During the reusability test, the removal efficiency decreases from the optimal first cycle to 69.1 and to 88.3 % in the sixth cycle for BA and FLG/BA, revealing superior stability of FLG/BA. The MD calculations confirm a higher adsorption capacity of FLG/BA composite compared to BA alone, clearly confirming a strong structure-property relation.

Quaternized Sodium Alginate-g-Ethyl-Oxazoline Copolymer Brushes and Their Supramolecular Networks via Hydrogen Bonding

Novel copolymer brushes of quaternized sodium alginate-g-(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)_n are achieved by the grafting reaction of 2-ethyl-2-oxazoline (EOX) from benzyl bromide groups in quaternized sodium alginate (QSA). The average number of (EOX)_n structural units is mediated from 1 to 5 by changing the molar ratio of the EOX monomer to benzyl bromide side groups. There exists obvious microphase separation between the QSA backbone and (EOX)_n segments in the copolymer brushes due to their thermodynamic incompatibility. The strong hydrogen-bonding interaction between -OH groups in the backbone and N─C═O groups in (EOX)_n segments is helpful for the construction of reversible supramolecular networks. The copolymer brushes show low cytotoxicity for HeLa cells and good antibacterial properties for Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus for the contribution of hydrophilic (EOX)_n segments and antibacterial activity of the quaternary ammonium. The antiprotein behavior of polymer surfaces is improved after rearrangement of (EOX)_n segments by tetrahydrofuran (THF) vapor induction. These copolymer brushes have good prospects for biomedical applications.

Synthesis of Tosyl- and Nosyl-Ended Polyisobutylenes with High Extent of Functionalities: The Effect of Reaction Conditions

Endfunctional polymers possess significant industrial and scientific importance. Sulfonyl endgroups, such as tosyl and nosyl endfunctionalities, due their ease of substitution are highly desired for a variety of polymer structures. The sulfonylation of hydroxyl-terminated polyisobutylene (PIB-OH), a chemically and thermally stable, biocompatible, fully saturated polymer, with tosyl chloride (TsCl) and nosyl chloride (NsCl) is presented in this study. PIB-OHs derived from commercial exo-olefin-ended PIB (PIBexo-OH) and allyl-terminated polymer made via quasiliving carbocationic polymerization of isobutylene (PIBall-OH) were tosylated and nosylated in the presence of 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP), pyridine and 1-methylimidazole (1-MI) catalysts and triethylamine (TEA). Our systematic investigations revealed that the end product distribution strongly depends on the relative amount of the components, especially that of TEA. While PIBexo-OTs with quantitative endfunctionality is readily formed from PIBexo-OH, its nosylation is not as straightforward. During sulfonylation of PIBall-OH, the formed tosyl and nosyl endgroups are easily substituted with chloride ions, formed in the first step of sulfonylation, leading to chloride termini. We found that decreased amounts of TEA afford the synthesis of PIBall-OTs and PIBall-ONs with higher than 90% endfunctionalities. These sulfonyl-ended PIBs open new ways for utilizing PIB in various fields and in the synthesis of novel PIB-containing macromolecular architectures.

Sterilization Methods and Their Influence on Physicochemical Properties and Bioprinting of Alginate as a Bioink Component

Bioprinting has emerged as a valuable three-dimensional (3D) biomanufacturing method to fabricate complex hierarchical cell-containing constructs. Spanning from basic research to clinical translation, sterile starting materials are crucial. In this study, we present pharmacopeia compendial sterilization methods for the commonly used bioink component alginate. Autoclaving (sterilization in saturated steam) and sterile filtration followed by lyophilization as well as the pharmacopeia noncompendial method, ultraviolet (UV)-irradiation for disinfection, were assessed. The impact of the sterilization methods and their effects on physicochemical and rheological properties, bioprinting outcome, and sterilization efficiency of alginate were detailed. Only sterile filtration followed by lyophilization as the sterilization method retained alginate's physicochemical properties and bioprinting behavior while resulting in a sterile outcome. This set of methods provides a blueprint for the analysis of sterilization effects on the rheological and physicochemical pattern of bioink components and is easily adjustable for other polymers used in the field of biofabrication in the future.

Effect of Silver Nanoparticles on the Microstructure, Non-Isothermal Crystallization Behavior and Antibacterial Activity of Polyoxymethylene

Silver (Ag) nanoparticles were synthesized by a facile route in the presence of oleic acid and n-propylamine. It was shown that the average primary size of the as-synthesized Ag nanoparticles was approximately 10 nm and the surface of as-synthesized Ag nanoparticles was capped with monolayer surfactants with the content of 19.6%. Based on as-synthesized Ag nanoparticles, polyoxymethylene (POM)/Ag nanocomposites were prepared. The influence of Ag nanoparticles on non-isothermal crystallization behavior of POM was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The Jeziorny, Jeziorny-modified Avrami, Ozawa, Liu and Mo, Ziabicki and Kissinger models were applied to analyze the non-isothermal melt crystallization data of POM/Ag nanocomposites. Results of half time (t_1/2), crystallization rate parameter (CRP), crystallization rate function (K(T)), kinetic parameter (F(T)), the kinetic crystallizability at unit cooling rate (G_Z) and the crystallization activation energy (∆E) were determined. Small amounts of Ag nanoparticles dispersed into POM matrix were shown to act as heterogeneous nuclei, which could enhance the crystallization rate of POM, increase the number of POM spherulites and reduce POM spherulites size. However, the higher loading of Ag nanoparticles were easily aggregated, which restrained POM crystallization to some degree. Furthermore, the POM/Ag nanocomposites showed robust antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.