Flexible thermoplastic composite of Polyvinyl Butyral (PVB) and waste of rigid Polyurethane foam

Electrospun Sound-Absorbing Nanofibrous Webs from Recycled Poly(vinyl butyral)

The amount of poly(vinyl butyral) (PVB) foils added to car windscreens to suppress glass shattering represents a huge worldwide volume of the material, and once a vehicle is end-of-life it also becomes a significance contributor to landfill. The recycling of PVB materials from windscreens has been expensive and despite improvements in recycling technologies, the landfill burden still increases. However, an increase in oil prices can shift the economic balance and stimulates the possible applicability of recycled PVB. As PVB is a relatively easy electrospinnable material, it is shown that nanofibrous mats produced from recycled PVB blends in ethanol exhibit very good sound-absorbing properties. To achieve an optimal composition between virgin and recycled PVB blends, a series of their ratios was consecutively characterized using various techniques (rheometry, SEM, FTIR, DSC, TGA, DMA, an impedance tube for determining sound absorbance). The best result was obtained with two wt. portions of 8 wt.% solution of virgin PVB in ethanol and one wt. portion of 12 wt.% solution of recycled PVB in ethanol.

Urea-Based Patches with Controlled Release for Potential Atopic Dermatitis Treatment

Skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis (AD) are widespread and affect people all over the world. Current treatments for dry and itchy skin are mostly focused on pharmaceutical solutions, while supportive therapies such as ointments bring immediate relief. Electrospun membranes are commonly used as a drug delivery system, as they have a high surface to volume area, resulting in high loading capacity. Within this study we present the manufacturing strategies of skin patches using polymer membranes with active substances for treating various skin problems. Here, we manufactured the skin patches using electrospun poly(vinyl butyral-co-vinyl alcohol-co-vinyl acetate) (PVB) fibers blended and electrosprayed with urea. The highest cumulative release of urea was obtained from the PVB patches manufactured via blend electrospinning with 5% of the urea incorporated in the fiber. The maximum concentration of released urea was acquired after 30 min, which was followed up by 6 h of constant release level. The simultaneous electrospinning and electrospraying limited the urea deposition and resulted in the lowest urea incorporation followed by the low release level. The urea-based patches, manufactured via blend electrospinning, exhibited a great potential as overnight treatment for various skin problems and their development can bring new trends to the textile-based therapies for AD.