0000000000004309
AUTHOR
Stefan Forster
Inverse Thermogelation of Aqueous Triblock Copolymer Solutions into Macroporous Shear-Thinning 3D Printable Inks
Amphiphilic block copolymers that undergo (reversible) physical gelation in aqueous media are of great interest in ditIerent areas including drug delivery, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and biofabrication. We investigated a small library of ABA-type triblock copolymers comprising poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) as the hydrophilic shell A and different aromatic poly(2-oxazoline)s and poly(2-oxazine)s cores B in an aqueous solution at different concentrations and temperatures. Interestingly, aqueous solutions of poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline)-block-poly(2-phenyl-2-oxazine)-block-poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) (PMeOx-b-PPheOzi-b-PMeOx) undergo inverse thermogelation below a critical temperatur…
An Inverse Thermogelling Bioink Based on an ABA-Type Poly(2-oxazoline) Amphiphile
Hydrogels are key components in several biomedical research areas such as drug delivery, tissue engineering, and biofabrication. Here, a novel ABA-type triblock copolymer comprising poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) as the hydrophilic A blocks and poly(2-phenethyl-2-oxazoline) as the aromatic and hydrophobic B block is introduced. Above the critical micelle concentration, the polymer self-assembles into small spherical polymer micelles with a hydrodynamic radius of approx 8-8.5 nm. Interestingly, this specific combination of hydrophilic and hydrophobic aromatic moieties leads to rapid thermoresponsive inverse gelation at polymer concentrations above a critical gelation concentration (20 wt %) into…
Thorium-234 derived information on particle residence times and sediment deposition in shallow waters of the south-western Baltic Sea
Abstract Activities of the naturally occurring, short-lived and highly particle-reactive radionuclide tracer 234 Th in the dissolved and particulate phase were measured at three shallow-water stations (maximum water depths: 15.6, 22.7 and 30.1 m) in Mecklenburg Bay (south-western Baltic Sea) to constrain the time scales of the dynamics and the depositional fate of particulate matter. Activities of particle-associated (> 0.4 μm) and total (particulate + dissolved) 234 Th were in the range of 0.08–0.11 dpm L − 1 and 0.11–0.20 dpm L − 1 , respectively. The activity ratio of total 234 Th and its long-lived and conservative parent nuclide 238 U was well below unity (range: 0.09–0.19) indicating …