Facile Preparation of Magnetic Poly(styrene-divinylbenzene) Foam and Its Application as an Oil Absorbent

A simple processing technique to produce novel magnetic poly­(styrene-divinylbenzene) (Poly­(St-DVB)) monoliths with highly open porous structure and lipophilicity is described. A porosity of 98.1% was achieved with the technique of high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs). The porous monolith possessed hydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 142° and absorbed oils from water selectively with an oil intake capacity of approximately 23 times its own mass. Incorporation of carbonyl iron powders (CIPs) enabled magnetism allowing the oil-soaked composite to be readily collected by a magnet. The composite saturated with oils could be regenerated by simple centrifugation, and the tests showed that the oil intake capacities were not impaired after 10 absorption/regeneration cycles. As Poly­(St-DVB) is a low-cost traditional material and is easily manufactured in monolithic forms via direct molding and controlled polymerization, the added features make the porous Poly­(St-DVB) composite a very competitive candidate for oil/water separation

Design of Bombyx mori (B. mori) Silk Fibroin Microspheres for Developing Biosafe Sunscreen

Sunscreens play a crucial role in protecting the skin from ultraviolet (UV) damage. However, present commercial sunscreens have a tendency to generate free radicals in the UV window, resulting in serious inflammatory responses and health problems. In this study, we demonstrate that silk fibroin microspheres (SFMPs) assembled from regenerated silk fibroin (SF) could scavenge free radicals while preventing UV irradiation and thus present a promising sunscreen. The SFMP reflected more UV light than SF and presented a higher stability than that of organic commercial sunscreens. In vitro analysis proved that SFMP could more efficiently scavenge the hydroxy radical and reduce the intracellular reactive oxygen than titanium dioxide (TiO2). In vivo experiments exhibited that SFMP provided stronger skin protection against UV irradiation than commercial sunscreens and TiO2. Furthermore, SFMP treatment significantly inhibited the skin inflammatory response. This work suggests that the SFMP has great potential to be developed into a biosafe sunscreen