Adsorption of human serum albumin on to synthesized dye-like polystyrene gel beads

Development of a polystyrene-based microplastic model for bioaccumulation and biodistribution study using radiotracing and nuclear analysis method

The investigation of micro or nano plastics behavior in the environment is essential to minimize the hazards of such pollutants on humans. While the conventional method requires sophisticated procedures and a lot of animal subjects, the nuclear technique confers a sensitive, accurate, and real-time method using radiolabeled micro or nano plastics as a tracer. In this study, polystyrene sulfonate-based microplastic (PSM) was developed with a size of around 3.6 μm, followed by radiolabeling with iodine-131 (131I) or zinc-65 (65Zn) for microplastic radiotracer model. After a stability study in seawater, phosphate buffer saline (PBS), and human serum albumin (HSA) for fifteen days, PSM-131I remained stable (>90 %), except in HSA (50-60 % after day-9), while PSM-65Zn was unstable (<50 %).

High-strength cellulose/poly(ethylene glycol) gels

Cellulose gel membranes have been prepared by a pre-gelation method employing cellulose solutions in aqueous NaOH-thiourea obtained at low temperature. The cellulose gels were then swollen by low-molecular-weight polyethylene glycol (PEG; MW<1000 g mol(-1)), and the morphology, structure and mechanical properties of the cellulose/PEG gels were studied by various techniques. The gels exhibit high mechanical performance, and the tensile strength of the gel membranes increases sharply with an increase in the molecular weight of PEG from 200 to 800 g mol(-1). Moreover, their elongation at break remains stable at 100 %. PEG800 efficiently improves the optical transmittance of the gel membranes at ambient temperature, which is about five times greater than that of a normal cellulose hydrogel membrane. A strong hydrogen-bonding interaction occurs between PEG and cellulose leading to a homogeneous structure, high mechanical strength and good transparency of the gel membranes.