Search results for "polymers"

Performance of polyester-based electrospun scaffolds under in vitro hydrolytic conditions: From short-term to long-term applications

2019

The evaluation of the performance of polyesters under in vitro physiologic conditions is essential to design scaffolds with an adequate lifespan for a given application. In this line, the degradation-durability patterns of poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA), polydioxanone (PDO), polycaprolactone (PCL) and polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) scaffolds were monitored and compared giving, as a result, a basis for the specific design of scaffolds from short-term to long-term applications. For this purpose, they were immersed in ultra-pure water and phosphate buffer solution (PBS) at 37 &deg

Halloysite-Based Bionanocomposites

2017

Scientific research has been invigorated by a new class of biodegradable materials as alternatives to polymers derived from fossils. Such biomaterials can also offer economic advantages because they are derived from renewable resources. Several biopolymers (gelatin, chitin, chitosan, starch, pectin, cellulose and its modified versions, etc.) have been exploited to produce films and formulations. Their use is limited because of fast degradation, predominant hydrophilic character, and, in some cases, unsatisfactory mechanical properties. However, the properties of these polymers can be improved by using inorganic fillers such as additives. Halloysite nanotube is a promising green filler for t…

Antibacterial biopolymeric foams: Structure–property relationship and carvacrol release kinetics

2019

Abstract In this work, the feasibility of antibacterial biopolymeric foams containing carvacrol (CRV) for potential food packaging applications was investigated. Sodium bicarbonate (SB) was chosen as foaming agent and a commercial biodegradable polymer, Mater-Bi® (MB), as a matrix. MB/SB and MB/SB/CRV systems were prepared by melt mixing and the foaming process was conducted in a laboratory press. The influence of foaming agent and antibacterial additive content was investigated. The foamed samples were characterized through morphological analysis, mechanical tests and measurements of CRV release kinetics. Moreover, a mathematical model, i.e. power law model, was used to fit the release dat…

PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BIOPOLYMERIC POROUS STRUCTURES FOR ADVANCED APPLICATIONS

Porous biopolymers received an increasing academic and industrial interest finding application in several fields such as tissue engineering, bioprocess intensification and waste removal. Tissue engineering combines the knowledge of materials science and bioengineering in order to develop structures able to substitute and restore the normal function of injured or diseased tissues. In this context, polymeric 3D or 2D scaffolds are widely investigated as temporary cell guidance during the tissue restore. Porous biomaterials can offer a versatile and cost effective way for immobilization of filamentous microorganisms in submerged fermentation processes for the production of biologically active …

Photoimaging through in-Situ Photopolymerization of Heterobifunctional Mesogenic Compounds in Liquid Crystalline State

2007

A series of heterobifunctional mesogenic biphenyl esters having two different polymerizable groups, i.e., acryl and diacetylene groups, were synthesized and their thermal behaviors and polymerization investigated. All compounds showed enantiotropic transitions. Under POM, highly birefringent focal-conic fan textures appeared on heating and cooling from the isotropic melt. Compounds 6−8 having a butyl spacer between a biphenyl and a diacetylene group exhibited LC phases even at room temperature. The X-ray diffractograms of compounds 6−8 showed a set of reflections in the small-angle region. They consisted of more than three sharp diffraction peaks with d spacings in the ratio of 1:1/2:1/3, s…

EFFECT OF DRAWING ON THE STRUCTURE AND THE DYNAMIC-MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF SALTED POLYCAPROAMIDE.

1982

Abstract Structural determinations, obtained through density, birefringence, and WAXS measurements, are reported for nylon 6/inorganic salt fiber samples as a function of draw ratio. They confirm the possibility of achieving very high amorphous orientation in these systems. Dynamic-mechanical data have also been collected which allow determination of glass transition temperatures. These are also discussed in terms of structural parameters.

Characterization of melt-polymerized polycarbonate: preparative fractionation, branching distribution and simulation

2001

Melt-polymerized bisphenol-A polycarbonate materials characterized by a low degree of branching were fractionated according to molecular weight by the continuous polymer fractionation (CPF) method. The distribution of two types of end-groups and in-chain salicylate moieties arising from thermal rearrangement reactions were assessed across the molecular weight distribution by analysis of the fractions. Experimentally determined branching densities of the fractions agreed well with a molecular simulation based on a random sampling polycondensation model. Both simulation and experiments showed that the branching density increases with molecular weight in the experimentally accessible range. (C…

Study of the Curing Process of DGEBA Epoxy Resin Through Structural Investigation

2015

In this work, a multi-scale approach with different analytical methods is applied to study the curing process and the structural properties of a diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) epoxy resin. This monomer, thermally cured using 4,4′-diaminodiphenilsulfone (DDS) as hardener, is analyzed after 10, 45, 90, and 120 min of reaction time at 180 °C to obtain information on samples with different cross-linking densities. Samples are also characterized after extraction in acetone in order to obtain structural information on the insoluble parts. For this purpose, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ss-NMR),…

Synthesis of AB and ABA block copolymers as compatibilizers in nylon 6/polycarbonate blends

1996

Nylon 6 (Ny6) and Bisphenol A polycarbonate (PC) are immiscible and form biphasic blends. To improve the compatibility of Ny6 and PC several ABA and AB Ny6/PC block copolymers were synthesized, and their compatibilizing behavior on the blends were tested. Block copolymers were prepared by reacting monoamino- or diamino-terminated Ny6 homopolymers with high molecular weight PC at 130°C in anhydrous DMSO. The reaction of diamino- and monoamino-terminated Ny6 with polycarbonate produces block copolymers of the type PC-Ny6-PC (ABA) and PC-Ny6 (AB), respectively, plus a certain amount of unconverted PC degradated to lower molecular weights. To separate the block copolymer from the unconverted PC…

Dielectric spectroscopy of novel thiol-ene/epoxy thermosets obtained from allyl-modified hyperbranched poly (ethyleneimine) and diglycidylether of bi…

2019

[EN] Dielectric Thermal Analysis (DETA) of a series of new thermoset obtained by click chemistry was performed. The new thermosets were obtained by a dual-curing process consisting in a first photochemical thiol-ene, followed by a thermal thiol-epoxy starting from an allyl-terminated hyperbranched poly(ethyleneimine) (HBPEI) and different proportions of diglycidylether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and the corresponding stoichiometric proportions of pentaerythritol tetrakis (3-mercaptopropionate, PETMP). The dielectric behaviour was obtained experimentally supressing the conductive effects. Two sub-Tg intramolecular non-cooperative gamma and beta relaxations and an intermolecular cooperative alpha…