Biopolymers for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications: Recent advances and overview of alginate electrospinning

Innovative solutions using biopolymer-based materials made of several constituents seems to be particularly attractive for packaging in biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. In this direction, some progress has been made in extending use of the electrospinning process towards fiber formation based on biopolymers and organic compounds for the preparation of novel packaging materials. Electrospinning can be used to create nanofiber mats characterized by high purity of the material, which can be used to create active and modern biomedical and pharmaceutical packaging. Intelligent medical and biomedical packaging with the use of polymers is a broadly and rapidly growing field of interest for industries and academia. Among various polymers, alginate has found many applications in the food sector, biomedicine, and packaging. For example, in drug delivery systems, a mesh made of nanofibres produced by the electrospinning method is highly desired. Electrospinning for biomedicine is based on the use of biopolymers and natural substances, along with the combination of drugs (such as naproxen, sulfikoxazol) and essential oils with antibacterial properties (such as tocopherol, eugenol). This is a striking method due to the ability of producing nanoscale materials and structures of exceptional quality, allowing the substances to be encapsulated and the drugs/biologically active substances placed on polymer nanofibers. So, in this article we briefly summarize the recent advances on electrospinning of biopolymers with particular emphasis on usage of Alginate for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications

A study on the thermodynamic changes in the mixture of polypropylene (PP) with varying contents of technological and post-user recyclates for sustainable nanocomposites

The use of recycled materials can address some of the issues associated with the cost and environmental implications of non-renewable materials. So the prime aim of this work was to determine the thermodynamic changes in the polypropylene (PP) mixtures depending on the percentage amount of different origin recyclates for sustainable nanocomposites. In this study, different polypropylene mixtures with the addition of PP recyclates from a selective waste collection system and in-plant recycling system have been subjected to detailed analysis. It was obvious that recyclates from technological waste were of higher quality than post-user recyclates obtained from a selective waste collection system. The influence of the source of the recyclates on the different properties of the processed materials has been studied in detail. The content of the repeatedly processed material in the technological recyclates was found to explain the unexpected influence of the recyclates content on the properties of the final product. A mathematical model was also formulated to calculate the content of the material with certain amount of recirculations in the in-plant recycling system since no analyses concerning the content of the repeatedly processed material in the technological recyclates added to the original material were found in the literature

Analysis of Particles’ Size and Degree of Distribution of a Wooden Filler in Wood–Polymer Composites

In wood–polymer composites (WPCs), regardless of the origin of the filler and its dimensions, their significant role in changing the properties of the WPCs’ material was found. Given the above, it is of particular importance to determine the size of the wood filler particles after their production. In addition, it is also important to determine the degree of distribution of the filler in the polymer matrix. The methodology for determining particle size and distribution is complex, even when using image analysis computer systems. This article presents the application and implementation of the multi-stage procedure for determining the size of wood particles and the degree of their distribution in the WPCs by means of image analysis using a numerical calculation program. The procedure, co-authored by the researchers at the Koszalin University of Technology and School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, is published in the Industrial Crops and Products 2016 Comparing the results obtained for the PP/Lignocel 3-4 and PP/Lignocel C120 composites produced under highly different conditions in the target zone, it was found that the degree of the component distribution in the polymer matrix was significantly influenced by the width of the target gap. In both cases, the best homogeneity of the material and a good distribution of the filler in the polymer matrix was achieved within the parameters that have a mild effect on the material and allow it to stay longer in the plasticizing system, i.e., Ws = 1.0–3.0 mm with simultaneous impact medium to high speed in the range n = 26–40 rpm

Zastosowanie mikroskopii sił atomowych i analizy fraktalnej do badania wpływu temperatury na topografię powierzchni materiałów polimerowych

Changes in the surface topography of polymeric materials can be analyzed to find the correspondence between observed surface features and specific external factors that might also influence physical and functional properties of the investigated material. In this work, atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements were carried out to investigate the thermal changes in the surface topography as well as in the inner structure of the low density polyethylene (LDPE) samples subjected to 10 recirculations (rLDPE). For better assessment, fractal analysis and AFM results were additionally compared to DSC tests results.Analiza zmian topografii powierzchni materiałów polimerowych pozwala wyznaczyć zależności między obserwowanymi cechami powierzchni a określonymi czynnikami zewnętrznymi, które mogą wpływać na właściwości fizyczne i funkcjonalne badanego materiału. W niniejszej pracy metodą mikroskopii sił atomowych (AFM) oceniano zmiany termiczne topografii powierzchni, a także wewnętrznej struktury próbek polietylenu małej gęstości (LDPE) poddanych 10-krotnej recyrkulacji (rLDPE). Wyniki AFM i analizy fraktalnej porównywano z wynikami badań metodą różnicowej kalorymetrii skaningowej (DSC)