Design strategies, surface functionalization, and environmental remediation potentialities of polymer-functionalized nanocomposites

Robust polymer hybrid and assembly materials from structure tailoring to efficient catalytic remediation of emerging pollutants

A massive amount of toxic substances and harmful chemicals are released every day into the outer environment, imposing serious environmental impacts on both land and aquatic animals. To date, research is constantly in progress to determine the best catalytic material for the effective remediation of these harmful pollutants. Hybrid nanomaterials prepared by combining functional polymers with inorganic nanostructures got attention as a promising area of research owing to their remarkable multifunctional properties deriving from their entire nanocomposite structure. The versatility of the existing nanomaterials' design in polymer-inorganic hybrids, with respect to their structure, composition, and architecture, opens new prospects for catalytic applications in environmental remediation. This review article provides comprehensive detail on catalytic polymer nanocomposites and highlights how they might act as a catalyst in the remediation of toxic pollutants. Additionally, it provides a detailed clarification of the processing of design and synthetic ways for manufacturing polymer nanocomposites and explores further into the concepts of precise design methodologies. Polymer nanocomposites are used for treating pollutants (electrocatalytic, biocatalytic, catalytic, and redox degradation). The three catalytic techniques that are frequently used are thoroughly illustrated. Furthermore, significant improvements in the method through which the aforementioned catalytic process and pollutants are extensively discussed. The final section summarizes challenges in research and the potential of catalytic polymer nanocomposites for environmental remediation.

Surface-functionalised polymeric nanoparticles for breast cancer treatment: processes and advances

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that of all the non-communicable diseases, cancer is considered the second cause of death worldwide. This has driven the big pharma companies to prioritise anticancer products in their pipeline. In addition, research has focused on exploration of new anticancer molecules and design of suitable dosage forms to achieve effective drug delivery to the tumour site. Nanotechnology is a valuable tool to build nano delivery systems with controlled and targeted drug release properties. Nanoparticles can be fabricated by robust, scalable and economic techniques using various polymers. Moreover, specific functional groups can be introduced to the surface of nanoparticles enabling targeting to a specific tissue; besides, they exhibit versatile drug release patterns according to the rate of polymer degradation. This review outlines the processes and advances in surface functionalisation of nanoparticles employed for treatment of breast cancer. The therapeutic molecules, the polymers used to fabricate nanoparticles, the techniques used to prepare the nanoparticles have been reviewed with a focus on the processes employed to functionalise these nanoparticles with suitable ligands to target different types of breast cancer.

Impact of Natural Organic Matter Competition on the Adsorptive Removal of Acetochlor and Metolachlor from Low-Specific UV Absorbance Surface Waters

Although activated carbon adsorption is a very promising process for the removal of organic compounds from surface waters, the removal performance for nonionic pesticides could be adversely affected by co-occurring natural organic matter. Natural organic matter can compete with pesticides during the adsorption process, and the size of natural organic matter affects the removal of pesticides, as low-molecular-weight organics directly compete for adsorbent sites with pesticides. This study aims to investigate the competitive impact of low-molecular-weight organics on the adsorptive removal of acetochlor and metolachlor by four commercial powdered activated carbons. The adsorption features of selected powdered activated carbons were evaluated in surface water samples collected from the influent stream of the filtration process having 2.75 mg/L organic matter and 0.87 L/mg-m specific UV absorbance. The adsorption kinetics and capacities were examined by employing pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, and intraparticle diffusion kinetic models and modified Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models to the experimental data. The competitive removal of acetochlor and metolachlor in the presence of natural organic matter was evaluated for varied powdered activated carbon dosages on the basis of UV and specific UV absorbance values of adsorbed organic matter. The adsorption data were well represented by the modified Freundlich isotherm, as well as pseudo-second-order kinetics. The maximum organic matter adsorption capacities of the modified Freundlich isotherm were observed to be 120.6 and 127.2 mg/g by Norit SX Ultra and 99.5 and 100.6 mg/g by AC Puriss for acetochlor- and metolachlor-containing water samples, respectively. Among the four powdered activated carbons, Norit SX Ultra and AC Puriss provided the highest natural organic matter removal performances with 76 and 72% and 71 and 65% for acetochlor- and metolachlor-containing samples, respectively. Similarly, Norit SX Ultra and AC Puriss were very effective for adsorbing aromatic organics with higher than 80% specific UV absorbance removal efficiency. Metolachlor was almost completely removed by higher than 98% by Norit SX Ultra, Norit SX F Cat, and AC Puriss, even at low adsorbent dosages. However, an adsorbent dose of 100 mg/L and above should be added for all powdered activated carbons, except for Norit SX F Cat, for achieving an acetochlor removal performance of higher than 98%. The competition between low-molecular-weight organics (low-specific UV absorbance) and acetochlor and metolachlor was more apparent at low adsorbent dosages (10-75 mg/L).

Nanoparticle Based Cardiac Specific Drug Delivery

Heart failure secondary to myocardial injuries is a leading cause of death worldwide. Recently, a growing number of novel therapies have emerged for injured myocardium repairment. However, delivering therapeutic agents specifically to the injured heart remains a significant challenge. Nanoparticles are the most commonly used vehicles for targeted drug delivery. Various nanoparticles have been synthesized to deliver drugs and other therapeutic molecules to the injured heart via passive or active targeting approaches, and their targeting specificity and therapeutic efficacies have been investigated. Here, we summarized nanoparticle-based, cardiac-specific drug delivery systems, their potency for treating heart diseases, and the mechanisms underlying these cardiac-targeting strategies. We also discussed the clinical studies that have employed nanoparticle-based cardiac-specific drug delivery.