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Topic Review
Intrinsic Self-Healing Polymers
Self-healing polymeric materials have been widely investigated because they can heal the damages spontaneously and thereby prolong their service lifetime. Many ingenious synthetic procedures have been developed for fabricating self-healing polymers with high performance.
  • 1.7K
  • 20 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Antimicrobial Polymers
Antibiotic resistance has increased markedly in Gram-negative bacteria, causing severe infections intractable with traditional drugs and amplifying mortality and healthcare costs. Consequently, to find novel antimicrobial compounds, active on multidrug resistant bacteria, is mandatory. In this regard, cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs)—able to kill pathogens on contact—could represent an appealing solution. However, low selectivity, hemolytic toxicity and cost of manufacturing, hamper their massive clinical application. In the recent years—starting from CAMPs as template molecules—less toxic and lower-cost synthetic mimics of CAMPs, including cationic peptides, polymers and dendrimers, have been developed. Although the pending issue of hemolytic toxicity and biodegradability is still left not completely solved, cationic antimicrobial polymers (CAPs), compared to small drug molecules, thanks to their high molecular weight, own appreciable selectivity, reduced toxicity toward eukaryotic cells, more long-term activity, stability and non-volatility. With this background, an updated overview concerning the state of the art of the main manufactured types of CAPs, active on Gram-negative bacteria, is herein reported, including synthetic procedure and action’s mechanism. Information about the antibacterial activity, advantages and drawbacks of the most appealing compounds was also provided.
  • 1.7K
  • 12 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Assessment of Bio-Based Polyurethanes
Among numerous synthetic macromolecules, polyurethane in its different forms has proven its sheer dominance and established a reputation as a reliable and trusted material due to its proficiency in terms of superior properties, which include: high mechanical strength and abrasion resistance, good durability, good adhesion, good thermal stability, excellent chemical and weathering resistance. Synthetic polyurethane materials are non-biodegradable, poisonous, and use petrochemical-based raw materials, which are now depleting, leading to a surge in polyurethane production costs. Enormous kinds of available bio-renewable sources as predecessors for the production of polyols and isocyanates have been explored for the development of “greener” PU materials; these bio-based polyurethanes have significant potential to be used as future PU products, with a partial or total replacement of petroleum-based polyurethanes, due to increasing concern about the environment, their relatively low cost and biodegradability.
  • 1.7K
  • 12 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Injectable Hydrogels
The transfer of some innovative technologies from the laboratory to industrial scale is many times not taken into account in the design and development of some functional materials such as hydrogels to be applied in the biomedical field. There is a lack of knowledge in the scientific field where many aspects of scaling to an industrial process are ignored, and products cannot reach the market. Injectable hydrogels are a good example that we have used in our research to show the different steps needed to follow to get a product in the market based on them. From synthesis and process validation to characterization techniques used and assays performed to ensure the safety and efficacy of the product, following regulation, several well-defined proto-cols must be adopted.
  • 1.7K
  • 12 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced Polymer Composite
A novel class of carbon nanotube (CNT)-based nanomaterials has been surging since 1991 due to their noticeable mechanical and electrical properties, as well as their good electron transport properties. The development of CNT-reinforced polymer composites could contribute in expanding many areas of use, from energy-related devices to structural components. A CNT is defined as a one-atom thick sheet of graphite rolled into a tube with a diameter of one nanometer, which is classified as a single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT); if there are additional or multiple graphene tubes around the core of an SWCNT, this is known as a multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT). Theoretical and experimental results on CNTs have showed a high modulus of elasticity: greater than 1 TPa (the elastic modulus of diamond is 1.2 TPa). In addition, CNTs also possess a strength that is 10–100 times higher than the resilient steel at a fraction of the weight. Additionally, CNTs have an excellent thermal stability of up to 2800 ◦C in vacuum and an electrical conductivity in the vicinity of 103 S/cm, with an electric-current-carrying capacity that is 1000 times higher and thermal conductivity of about 1900 W m−1 K−1 (which is about twice as high as diamond). SWCNTs in a hexagonal honeycomb structure consist of sp2 hybridized carbon in a that is rolled into a hollow tube morphology, while MWCNTs consist of multiple concentric tubes encircling one another.
  • 1.6K
  • 05 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Fluorescent Polymers Conspectus
The development of luminescent materials is critical to humankind. The Nobel Prizes awarded in 2008 and 2010 for research on the development of green fluorescent proteins and super-resolved fluorescence imaging are proof of this (2014). Fluorescent probes, smart polymer machines, fluorescent chemosensors, fluorescence molecular thermometers, fluorescent imaging, drug delivery carriers, and other applications make fluorescent polymers (FPs) exciting materials. 
  • 1.6K
  • 22 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Bound Water and Tissue Stiffness
The mechanical properties of living biological tissues change with aging and commonly can be associated with age-related diseases. Increase of tissue stiffness can be related also with thermodynamically favorable release of tightly bound to biological macromolecules water molecules. 
  • 1.6K
  • 10 Aug 2020
Topic Review
N,N-Dimethylacrylamide-Based Hydrogels
N,N-dimethylacrylamide produces hydrogel when polymerized with cross-linkers. Moreover, poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) has gotten a lot of attention as it is commonly used as the hydrophilic side of copolymers due to its unique properties and high water solubility. In addition, van der Waals interactions between N,N-dimethylacrylamide and dye molecules even more increase the applicability of DMAA hydrogels.
  • 1.6K
  • 03 Dec 2021
Topic Review
3D Printing at Micro-Level
Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) and two-photon polymerization (TPP) have proven their abilities to produce 3D complex microstructures at an extraordinary level of sophistication. Indeed, LIFT and TPP have supported the vision of providing a whole functional laboratory at a scale that can fit in the palm of a hand. This is only possible due to the developments in manufacturing at micro- and nano-scales. In a short time, LIFT and TPP have gained popularity, from being a microfabrication innovation utilized by laser experts to become a valuable instrument in the hands of researchers and technologists performing in various research and development areas, such as electronics, medicine, and micro-fluidics. In comparison with conventional micro-manufacturing methods, LIFT and TPP can produce exceptional 3D components. To gain benefits from LIFT and TPP, in-detail comprehension of the process and the manufactured parts’ mechanical–chemical characteristics is required. 
  • 1.6K
  • 01 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Spinning of Biopolymer Fibers
Increasing interest in bio-based polymers and fibers has led to the development of several alternatives to conventional plastics and fibers made of these materials. Biopolymer fibers can be made from renewable, environmentally friendly resources and can be fully biodegradable. Biogenic resources with a high content of carbohydrates such as starch-containing plants have huge potentials to substitute conventional synthetic plastics in a number of applications. 
  • 1.6K
  • 06 May 2021
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