Long-term active antimicrobial coatings for surgical sutures based on silver nanoparticles and hyperbranched polylysine.

The goal of this study was to develop a long-term active antimicrobial coating for surgical sutures. To this end, two water-insoluble polymeric nanocontainers based on hyperbranched polylysine (HPL), hydrophobically modified by either using glycidyl hexadecyl ether, or a mixture of stearoyl/palmitoyl chloride, were synthesized. Highly stabilized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs, 2-5 nm in size) were generated by dissolving silver nitrate in the modified HPL solutions in toluene followed by reduction with L-ascorbic acid.

Influence of shell thickness and cross-link density on the structure of temperature-sensitive poly-N-isopropylacrylamide-poly-N-isopropylmethacrylamide core-shell microgels investigated by small-angle neutron scattering.

Swelling properties of doubly temperature sensitive core-shell microgels consisting of two thermosensitive polymers with lower critical solution temperatures (LCTS) at, respectively, 34 degrees C in the core and 44 degrees C in the shell have been investigated by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). A core-shell form factor has been employed to evaluate the structure, and the real space particle structure is expressed by radial density profiles. By this means, the influences of both shell/core mass composition and shell cross-linker content on the internal structure have been revealed at temperatures above, between, and below the LCSTs.

Structure of multiresponsive "intelligent" core-shell microgels.

A doubly temperature-sensitive core-shell microgel composed of two temperature-sensitive polymers with different lower critical solution temperatures (LCSTs) in the core and shell has been studied by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). The application of a novel universal form factor model in the analysis of the SANS data reveals that the radial density profile at temperatures above the LCSTs of both polymers can be well described by a two-box profile with narrow interfaces. At temperatures between the LCSTs, the radial density profile reveals that the core in the core-shell microgel has larger dimensions than the naked core.