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Topic Review
Adsorption Properties of Polysaccharide-Based Natural Polymer Hydrogels
The pollution and scarcity of freshwater resources are global problems that have a significant influence on human life. It is very important to remove harmful substances in the water to realize the recycling of water resources. Hydrogels have recently attracted attention due to their special three-dimensional network structure, large surface area, and pores, which show great potential for the removal of pollutants in water. In their preparation, natural polymers are one of the preferred materials because of their wide availability, low cost, and easy thermal degradation. However, when it is directly used for adsorption, its performance is unsatisfactory, so it usually needs to be modified in the preparation process. 
  • 1.2K
  • 24 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Fabrication-4D-Printed Shape Memory Polymers
Additive manufacturing (AM) is the process through which components/structures are produced layer-by-layer. In this context, 4D printing combines 3D printing with time so that this combination results in additively manufactured components that respond to external stimuli and, consequently, change their shape/volume or modify their mechanical properties. Therefore, 4D printing uses shape-memory materials that react to external stimuli such as pH, humidity, and temperature. Among the possible materials with shape memory effect (SME), the most suitable for additive manufacturing are shape memory polymers (SMPs).
  • 1.2K
  • 27 Apr 2021
Topic Review
3D Printing of ECHs
Electrically conductive hydrogels (ECHs), an emerging class of biomaterials, have garnered tremendous attention due to their potential for a wide variety of biomedical applications, from tissue-engineered scaffolds to smart bioelectronics. Along with the development of new hydrogel systems, 3D printing of such ECHs is one of the most advanced approaches towards rapid fabrication of future biomedical implants and devices with versatile designs and tuneable functionalities.
  • 1.1K
  • 06 May 2021
Topic Review
Membrane-Based Environmental Remediation
During the last century, industrialization has grown very fast and as a result heavy metals have contaminated many water sources. Due to their high toxicity, these pollutants are hazardous for humans, fish, and aquatic flora. Traditional techniques for their removal are adsorption, electro-dialysis, precipitation, and ion exchange, but they all present various drawbacks. Membrane technology represents an exciting alternative to the traditional ones characterized by high efficiency, low energy consumption and waste production, mild operating conditions, and easy scale-up. In this review, the attention has been focused on applying driven-pressure membrane processes for heavy metal removal, highlighting each of the positive and negative aspects. Advantages and disadvantages, and recent progress on the production of nanocomposite membranes and electrospun nanofiber membranes for the adsorption of heavy metal ions have also been reported and critically discussed. Finally, future prospective research activities and the key steps required to make their use effective on an industrial scale have been presented
  • 1.1K
  • 02 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Chromophoric Dendrimer-Based Materials
Dendrimers (from the Greek dendros → tree; meros → part) are macromolecules with well-defined three-dimensional and tree-like structures. Remarkably, this hyperbranched architecture is one of the most ubiquitous, prolific, and recognizable natural patterns observed in nature. 
  • 1.1K
  • 16 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Chemical Composition of Giant Miscanthus from Different Climatic Regions
Lignocellulosic biomass is of great interest as an alternative energy resource because it has a number of advantages. Miscanthus x gigantis is a lignocellulosic feedstock of particular interest because it combines high biomass productivity with low environmental impact, including control of CO 2 emissions. The chemical composition of lignocellulose determines the possibilities of its use for efficient industrial processing. Here we have collected specimens from a collection of Miscanthus x giganteus, which were grown in different climatic regions between 2019 and 2021. The chemical composition was quantified using traditional wet methods. The results were compared with each other and with known data. It has been shown that already from the first year of vegetation, miscanthus has the following chemical composition: cellulose content 43.2–55.5%, acid-insoluble lignin content 17.1–25.1%, pentosan 17.9–22.9%, ash content 0, 90–2.95%, and 0.3–1.2% extractives. Habitat and environment have been found to influence the chemical composition of miscanthus. It was found that the stem part of miscanthus is richer in fiber than the leaf part (48.4–54.9% versus 47.2–48.9%, respectively), regardless of the age of the plantation and habitat. The data obtained expand the geography of research into the chemical composition of miscanthus and confirm the high value of miscanthus for industrial processing into cellulose products around the world.
  • 1.1K
  • 26 Oct 2023
Topic Review
Polymer-Based Thermal Management Material
The thermally conductive polymer is usually categorized into the intrinsic thermally conductive polymers and the thermally conductive polymer composites.
  • 1.1K
  • 09 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Drug Delievery of Nanocrystals
The development of new drugs is often hindered by low solubility in water, a problem common to nearly 90% of natural and/or synthetic molecules in the discovery pipeline. Nanocrystalline drug technology involves the reduction in the bulk particle size down to the nanosize range, thus modifying its physico-chemical properties with beneficial effects on drug bioavailability. Nanocrystals (NCs) are carrier-free drug particles surrounded by a stabilizer and suspended in an aqueous medium. Due to high drug loading, NCs maintain a potent therapeutic concentration to produce desirable pharmacological action, particularly useful in the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) diseases. In addition to the therapeutic purpose, NC technology can be applied for diagnostic scope. The possibility of adapting NCs to different pharmaceutical forms has led to the development of these nanosystems for different routes of administration, among which the most studied is the oral route.
  • 1.1K
  • 02 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Flexible Electrochromic Materials
The application potential of flexible electrochromic materials for wearable devices, smart textiles, flexible displays, electronic paper, and implantable biomedical devices is enormous. These materials offer the advantages of conformability and mechanical robustness, making them highly desirable for these applications.
  • 1.1K
  • 07 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Design of Liquid-Crystalline Elastomeric Fluorescent Force Sensors
Liquid single crystal elastomers (LSCEs) containing carbazole fluorogenic components alter their luminescence when they are stretched along the director direction. The differential luminescent behavior arises from the distinct interaction between the carbazole fluorophores and their local environment before and after the application of the mechanical input. Indeed, the uniaxial deformation of the material, along its anisotropic direction, forces a closer mesogen–fluorophore interaction, which leads to the quenching of the carbazole luminescence. Importantly, this intermolecular interaction is intimately related to the intrinsic order present in the LSCE. As a result, the amount of light emitted by the material in the form of fluorescence diminishes upon deformation. Thus, the application of mechanical stimuli to liquid-crystalline elastomers furnishes to two interconvertible states for the system with distinct optical properties (with either different emission color or fluorescence intensity). The initial state of the material is completely restored once the applied force is removed. In this way, this kind of macromolecular system can transduce mechanical events into detectable and processable optical signals, thus, having great potential as optical force sensors. In this context, the realization of the distinct structural factors that govern the interactions established between the mesogenic and fluorogenic units at the supramolecular level upon deformation is essential for the development of efficient LSCE-based force sensors. In fact, not only the density of carbazole units and their connection to the main polymer backbone, but also the presence of long range molecular order in the system and the type of mesophase exhibited by the LSCE are key factors for the conception of efficient force sensors based on these self-organized polymer networks.
  • 1.1K
  • 20 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Hydrogels as Biomaterials for Wound Dressings
Wound management remains a challenging issue around the world, although a lot of wound dressing materials have been produced for the treatment of chronic and acute wounds. Wound healing is a highly dynamic and complex regulatory process that involves four principal integrated phases, including hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling. Chronic non-healing wounds are wounds that heal significantly more slowly, fail to progress to all the phases of the normal wound healing process, and are usually stalled at the inflammatory phase. These wounds cause a lot of challenges to patients, such as severe emotional and physical stress and generate a considerable financial burden on patients and the general public healthcare system. It has been reported that about 1–2% of the global population suffers from chronic non-healing wounds during their lifetime in developed nations. Traditional wound dressings are dry, and therefore cannot provide moist environment for wound healing and do not possess antibacterial properties. Wound dressings that are currently used consist of bandages, films, foams, patches and hydrogels. Currently, hydrogels are gaining much attention as a result of their water-holding capacity, providing a moist wound-healing milieu. 
  • 1.1K
  • 12 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Thiolated-Polymer-Based Nanoparticles
Thiomers (or thiolated polymers) have broken through as avant-garde approaches in anticancer therapy. Their distinguished reactivity and properties, closely linked to their final applications, justify the extensive research conducted on their preparation and use as smart drug-delivery systems (DDSs).
  • 1.1K
  • 22 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Types of Membranes for CO2 Capture and Utilization
Membranes are a promising technology platform for CO2 capture because they are modular, scalable, and compact. This makes them desirable for process intensification and reducing energy costs. Biocatalytic membranes encompass many different types of materials and functionality.
  • 1.1K
  • 25 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Supramolecular Polymer Nanocomposites
Polymer nanocomposites, a class of innovative materials formed by polymer matrixes and nanoscaled fillers (e.g., carbon-based nanomaterials, inorganic/semiconductor nanoparticles, metal/metal-oxide nanoparticles, polymeric nanostructures, etc.), display enhanced mechanical, optoelectrical, magnetic, catalytic, and bio-related characteristics, thereby finding a wide range of applications in the biomedical field. In particular, the concept of supramolecular chemistry has been introduced into polymer nanocomposites, which creates myriad “smart” biomedical materials with unique physicochemical properties and dynamic tunable structures in response to diverse external stimuli. 
  • 1.1K
  • 25 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Properties and Bioactivity of Chitosan
Chitosan (CS) is a natural biopolymer derived by deacetylation (N-acetyl-D-glucosamine to D-glucosamine unit) of chitin.
  • 1.1K
  • 11 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Hybrid Materials Based on Polyhydroxyalkanoates
Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) constitute a family of biopolyesters that are synthesized and accumulate within the cellular structure of prokaryotic cells by bacteria, and they act as carbon and energy reserve materials under conditions of limited nutrient, such as nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorous or magnesium. As naturally derived materials, PHAs have been used for multiple cell and tissue engineering applications; however, their widespread biomedical applications are limited due to their lack of toughness, elasticity, hydrophilicity and bioactivity. To overcome this challenge combination of PHA with different polymers and inorganic materials are used to form hybrid composites with improved structural and functional properties.
  • 1.1K
  • 07 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Chitosan-Containing Composite Materials for Adsorption and Catalysis
Composite materials including organic–inorganic systems have drawn special attention due to their enhanced properties such as adsorbents and heterogeneous catalysts. At the same time, large-scale production of environmentally benign functionalized biopolymers, such as chitosan (CS), allows for constantly developing new materials, since CS reveals remarkable properties as a stabilizing agent for metal-containing compounds and enzymes and as an adsorbent of organic molecules. 
  • 1.1K
  • 15 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Application of Enzyme-Nanoparticle-Polymer Composites in Wastewater Treatment
Different water treatment technologies such as photochemical degradation, biodegradation, electrochemical degradation, reverse osmosis, and membrane separation have been used to get rid of water pollutants. Enzymatic treatments have received great attention due to several advantages compared to physical and chemical treatments, such as mild operating conditions and high catalytic efficiency without harsh side effects. Oxidase and peroxidase enzymes from different sources have been immobilized on metal and metal oxide-polymer composites and used in the degradation of pollutants.
  • 1.1K
  • 14 Sep 2023
Topic Review
Pectin in Semi-Solid and Fluid Foods
Pectin is a versatile polysaccharide produced mainly from natural food sources and agro-industrial wastes, adding value to these by-products. For food applications, it is necessary that pectin first interacts with water for technical purposes. As a food additive, pectin acts as a solution thickener and gelling agent for food formulation, even in concentrations of less than 1 (g/100 mL or g/100 g), and it is sufficient to influence food products’ stability, rheology, texture, and sensory properties.
  • 1.1K
  • 29 Aug 2023
Topic Review
Application of Polycaprolactone-Based Materials in Nanoformulations
Among the various materials used for the fabrication of nanoparticles, polycaprolactone (PCL) has gained considerable attention due to its biodegradability, biocompatibility, and ease of synthesis.
  • 1.1K
  • 25 Apr 2023
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