Search results for "poly(lactic acid)"
showing 10 items of 91 documents
Green Composites Based on Hedysarum coronarium with Outstanding FDM Printability and Mechanical Performance
2022
The addition of natural scraps to biodegradable polymers has gained particular interest in recent years, allowing reducing environmental pollution related to traditional plastic. In this work, new composites were fabricated by adding 10% or 20% of Hedysarum coronarium (HC) flour to Poly (lactic acid) (PLA). The two formulations were first produced by twin screw extrusion and the obtained filaments were then employed for the fabrication of composites, either for compression molding (CM) or by fused deposition modeling (FDM), and characterized from a morphological and mechanical point of view. Through FDM it was possible to achieve dense structures with good wettability of the filler that, on…
Polylactic acid, a sustainable, biocompatible, transparent substrate material for Organ-On-Chip, and Microfluidic applications
2019
AbstractOrgan-on-chips are miniaturised devices aiming at replacing animal models for drug discovery, toxicology and studies of complex biological phenomena. The field of Organ-On-Chip has grown exponentially, and has led to the formation of companies providing commercial Organ-On-Chip devices. Yet, it may be surprising to learn that the majority of these commercial devices are made from Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a silicone elastomer that is widely used in microfluidic prototyping, but which has been proven difficult to use in industrial settings and poses a number of challenges to experimentalists, including leaching of uncured oligomers and uncontrolled adsorption of small compounds. T…
A Fractional-Order Model of Biopolyester Containing Naturally Occurring Compounds for Soil Stabilization
2019
Currently, the use of polymers and biopolymers as soil-stabilizer additives for control of the soil degradation, deterioration, and desertification and for improving the arid and semiarid soils has been expanded significantly in the agricultural sector. This research was conducted to determine the effect of naturally occurring compounds, such as quercetin (Q) and sodium montmorillonite (NaMMt) at different weight ratios, in biopolyester, such as polylactic acid (PLA), aiming to formulate ecosustainable materials to control the soil degradation and to protect the environment. As known, the use of sophisticated analytical tools to describe the material rheology and melting properties is nowad…
In situ gel forming graft copolymers of a polyaspartamide and polylactic acid: Preparation and characterization
2008
Abstract In situ gel forming systems have been prepared by linking polylactic acid (PLA) to a water soluble and polyfunctional polymer, such as α,β-poly( N -2-hydroxyethyl)- d , l -aspartamide (PHEA). Three graft copolymers PHEA–PLA with a different derivatization degree in PLA, have been synthesized and characterized. PHEA–PLA graft copolymer with the highest amount in PLA has been used to prepare solutions in organic solvents able to give rise to gel-like matrices when injected into phosphate buffered saline solution. The chemical degradation of these gels has been evaluated and in vitro tests have been performed to evaluate the cell compatibility of the hydrolysis products. The possibili…
Dynamic optimization of a continuous Lactide ring-opening polymerization process
2019
An increasing attention has been paid to the production of the polylactic acid (PLA) in recent years, owing to its properties as a biodegradable thermoplastic besides the fact that it is derived from renewable resources. PLA is industrially produced by ring opening polymerization of lactide. This reaction is sensitive to deviations in the operating conditions that highly affect the reaction rate and the polymer properties. Therefore, a process monitoring and control policy is crucial in order to restore the nominal conditions in case of drift. In this paper, a continuous PLA process is considered with three cascade reactors, two tubular and one loop reactor, that is described by partial dif…
Advanced descriptors for long-range noncovalent interactions between SARS-CoV-2 spikes and polymer surfaces.
2021
The recent pandemic triggered numerous societal efforts aimed to control and limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2. One of these aspects is related on how the virion interacts with inanimate surfaces, which might be the source of secondary infection. Although recent works address the adsorption of the spike protein on surfaces, there is no information concerning the long-range interactions between spike and surfaces, experimented by the virion when is dispersed in the droplet before its possible adsorption. Some descriptors, namely the interaction potentials per single protein and global potentials, were calculated in this work. These descriptors, evaluated for the closed and open states of the sp…
"Click" on PLGA-PEG and hyaluronic acid: gaining access to anti-leishmanial pentamidine bioconjugates
2018
Pentamidine (Pent), an antiparasitic drug used for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis, has been modified with terminal azide groups and conjugated to two different polymer backbones (PLGA-PEG [PP] copolymer and hyaluronic acid [HA]) armed with alkyne end-groups. The conjugation has been performed by Copper Catalyzed Azido Alkyne Cycloaddition (CuAAC) using CuSO4/sodium ascorbate as metal source. The novel PP-Pent and HA-Pent bioconjugates are proposed, respectively, as non-targeted and targeted drug delivery systems against Leishmania infections. Moreover, Pent has been encapsulated into PP nanoparticles by the oil-in-water emulsion method, with the aim to compare the biological activi…
Blue biotechnology: oil bioremediation using hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria immobilized on biodegradable membranes
2017
A novel bioremediation system to clean up oil contaminated water was developed combining hydrocarbon (HC) degrading bacteria immobilized and polylactic acid (PLA) or polycaprolactone (PCL) membranes prepared by electrospinning. The bioremediation efficiency was tested on crude oil using highly performant HC degrading bacterial strains isolated from marine and soil environments. The membrane morphology, the microbial adhesion and proliferation were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SEM analysis highlighted that the fibers of the electrospun mats were in nanoscale with a similar diameter size distribution. The electrospun membranes exhibited high oil absorption capacity …
Medicated hydrogels of hyaluronic acid derivatives for use in orthopedic field.
2013
Physical hydrogels have been obtained from hyaluronic acid derivatized with polylactic acid in the presence or in the absence of polyethylene glycol chains. They have been extemporarily loaded with antibacterial agents, such as vancomycin and tobramycin. These medicated hydrogels have been used to coat titanium disks (chosen as simple model of orthopedic prosthesis) and in vitro studies in simulated physiological fluid have been performed as a function of time and for different drug loading and polymer concentration values. Sterilization process performed on the hydrogels does not change their rheological behavior and release properties as well as the chemical structure of starting copolyme…
Predicting stiffness and strength of birch pulp:Polylactic acid composites
2016
This paper studies failure of birch pulp–polylactic acid composites. Stiffness and strength are calculated using the theory of short fibre composites and the results are compared to experimental data. The results differed from the experimental values by 0–6%. With less aligned fibres the short fibre theory is not feasible. The performance of the 40 wt% birch pulp – polylactic acid composite is predicted with X-ray microtomography based finite element modelling, and the results are compared with experiments. Stiffness results differed from experiments by 1–17% . By adding into the models a third material phase representing the interface between the fibres and the matrix, the stress–strain c…