THERMOSENSITIVE HYDROGELS–A POTENTIAL CARRIER FOR THE DELIVERY OF DRUGS AND MACROMOLECULES

In this review, the authors have discussed scientific advances in thermosensitive hydrogels over the past two decades. The ability of the thermo-sensitive hydrogel to undergo rapid changes with response to temperature makes it an attractive candidate for many biomedical applications such as targeted drug delivery, wound healing, soft contact lenses, sensors, tissue regeneration, gene, and protein delivery. This review aims to deliver a brief overview of gelation properties, merits, and demerits of various natural and synthetic thermo-sensitive polymers that have significant clinical relevance. The report emphasizes the importance of injectable thermosensitive hydrogels, as it can offer improved solubility of hydrophobic drugs and site-specificity, extended-release of drugs and macromolecules, improved safety, and local administration of drugs. The authors has also provided a commentary on the delivery of drugs or macromolecules from thermo-sensitive hydrogels through various approaches. This review highlights the current status of research in thermo-sensitive hydrogels and emphasizes the importance of developing nontoxic thermo-sensitive hydrogels, dual responsive, and multi-responsive hydrogel systems

Design and development of non-woven medical product from Wrightia tinctoria fiber

This work aims at research on characterization of Wrightia tinctoria fiber, such as fiber content, fiber longitudinal view, cross-sectional view, fiber diameter, moisture content, SEM analysis, surface resistivity, swelling, and also mechanical properties of fiber, such as fiber strength, elongation, linear density, etc. The fiber was used to produce carded webs using the pilot carding machine from blends of Wrightia tinctoria fiber (W) with cotton (C), bamboo (B), and polyester (P) in the blend ratios of 25:75 and 50:50 for required GSM. The produced webs were bonded using spunlace bonding technique to produce required non-woven medical apparel. The produced nonwoven were tested for dressing mass and thickness, absorbency of wound dressing, the dehydration rate of dressing, wettability, vertical wicking, air permeability, potential of hydrogen, water vapor permeability, and anti-bacterial. The test results of the studies were investigated in detail and observed that the product development from Wrightia tinctoria fiber has immense potential for curing various skin diseases as revealed from the test results

Investigation on the application of Musa acuminata leaf methanol extract on cellulose fabric

This paper describes the application of Musa acuminata leaf methanol extract on cellulose fabrics. Musa acuminata is a banana species. It is a popular edible fruit consumed worldwide. Musa acuminata leaf methanol extract was prepared, and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy was performed to analyze the extracted solution using 0.1% NaOH. The methanol extract in three different concentrations, viz., 3%, 5%, and 7%, was applied on cotton fabrics using padding mangle at room temperature, 40°C, and 50°C, respectively. After application of the methanol extract, antibacterial property of the fabric was tested both qualitatively by a zone of inhibition (AATCC-147) and quantitatively by reduction of bacteria evaluated in percent (AATCC-100). Presence of gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and gram-negative Escherichia coli bacteria were studied following the AATCC standards. The results reveal that the methanol extract from Musa acuminata leaf, an economic resource, can be applied to medical textile fabrics to impart antibacterial action and UV protection

Evaluation of Mechanical Behaviour of Multiwalled Nanotubes Reinforcement Particles in Jute-Glass Fibres Hybrid Composites

Fibre-reinforced polymers (FRPs) are composite materials of plastics reinforced with fibres. Cars, sea, aeronautics, and foundation projects progressively utilize fibre-reinforced polymers. This study aims to study the effect of adding multiwalled nanotubes fillers into the hybridized jute-glass FRP composites and their relative properties. This study uses multiwalled nanotubes (MWCNTs), and particles-hybrid jute-glass composites containing jute fibre chopped layer mats, woven glass mats, epoxy resin, and multiwalled nanotubes fillers were created using the hand layup method. After adding multiwalled nanotubes fillers in various weight proportions, the mechanical behaviours of fibre-reinforced polymers were analysed. The mechanical behaviours of laminated composites were tested using the ASTM standard; the following properties are tensile, flexural, and impact strength. The multiwalled nanotubes with 6% wt. attained the maximum mechanical properties compared to the 2 and 4 wt. % of MWCNTs. The E-based specimen contributes the most to the different types of specimens, with a contribution of 24.21% for tensile, 25.03% for flexural, and 24.56% for impact. The microstructures of hybrid composites were studied using a scanning electron microscope

Investigation into Mechanical, Thermal and Water Absorption Behaviors of Cocos nucifera Shell Filler Reinforced Vinyl Ester Polymeric Composites

© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. This is the accepted manuscript version of an article which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-021-02343-8Recently, natural filler reinforced polymer composites are important materials for various engineering applications. Hence, this present work focuses on utilization of Cocos nucifera shell powder (CNSP) as a filler in vinyl ester (VE) resin to produce particulate composite specimens. The particulate composite plates with various weights or filler contents from 5 to 30 wt% were fabricated, using compression molding technique. The fabricated composites were subjected to tensile, flexural, impact, hardness, heat deflection and swelling behavior tests to obtain their corresponding material properties. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis was carried out on the C. nucifera shell powder/vinyl ester (CNSP/VE) composite specimens to investigate into the presence of their elements, in addition to the aforementioned tests. From the experimental results obtained, it was observed that the optimum mechanical properties of CNSP/VE composites were obtained at 15 wt% of filler content, having tensile, flexural and impact strengths of 38.70, 105.13 MPa and 33.04 kJ/m2, respectively. Also, the heat deflection temperature results varied from 158 (0 wt%, neat VE resin) to 171 °C along various percentages of filler contents. Lastly, the morphological study/analysis of the fractured CNSP/VE composite specimens was conducted by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to confirm the experimental data/results obtained. It was evident that CNSP/VE composite structures could be potential substitutes for some synthetic composites. Also, they are suitable for various engineering applications in aerospace, electrical/electronics and automobile industries, based on their properties.Peer reviewe