Impact of Chain Length on Release Behavior of Modified Polyethylene Glycol Intercalated-Montmorillonite Nanocomposite.

A new drug delivery nanocomposite system was prepared from sodium montmorillonite (NaMt) intercalated with modified polyethylene glycol (PEG). PEGs of different molecular weights (400, 4000, and 8000) were modified with glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride (GTMAC) to provide terminal quaternary ammonium sites capable for attaching with Mt or other materials through ion exchange. The modified PEG-GTMAC derivatives were reacted in excess amount with NaMt through ion exchange.

Fabrication of electrospun poly(vinyl alcohol)/dextran nanofibers via emulsion process as drug delivery system: Kinetics and in vitro release study.

A green electrospinning was used for the fabrication of PVA/Dex (dextran sulfate) nanofibers as a carrier for drug delivery. Core-shell nanofibers were fabricated by emulsion electrospinning from PVA/Dex loaded with ciprofloxacin (Cipro) as a model drug. The ratio of the PVA/Dex mixture was optimized and nanofibers were stabilized against disintegration in water by thermal treatment at 120 °C.

Development of Nanofiber Sponges-Containing Nerve Guidance Conduit for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration in Vivo.

In the study of hollow nerve guidance conduit (NGC), the dispersion of regenerated axons always confused researchers. To address this problem, filler-containing NGC was prepared, which showed better effect in the application of nerve tissue engineering. In this study, nanofiber sponges with abundant macropores, high porosity, and superior compressive strength were fabricated by electrospinning and freeze-drying.

Laminin-coated nerve guidance conduits based on poly(l-lactide-co-glycolide) fibers and yarns for promoting Schwann cells' proliferation and migration.

To develop an effective nerve guidance conduit with cooperative effects of topological structure and biological cues for promoting Schwann cells' (SCs) proliferation and migration, a laminin-coated and yarn-encapsulated poly(l-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) nerve guidance conduit (LC-YE-PLGA NGC) was fabricated in this study. The PLGA fiber yarns were fabricated through a double-nozzle electrospinning system and then the PLGA fibrous outer layer was collected using a general electrospinning method. Subsequently, laminin was coated on the yarn-encapsulated PLGA NGC through covalent binding.

One-dimensional TiO Nanotube Photocatalysts for Solar Water Splitting.

Hydrogen production from water splitting by photo/photoelectron-catalytic process is a promising route to solve both fossil fuel depletion and environmental pollution at the same time. Titanium dioxide (TiO) nanotubes have attracted much interest due to their large specific surface area and highly ordered structure, which has led to promising potential applications in photocatalytic degradation, photoreduction of CO, water splitting, supercapacitors, dye-sensitized solar cells, lithium-ion batteries and biomedical devices. Nanotubes can be fabricated via facile hydrothermal method, solvothermal method, template technique and electrochemical anodic oxidation.

Application of a bilayer tubular scaffold based on electrospun poly(l-lactide-co-caprolactone)/collagen fibers and yarns for tracheal tissue engineering.

A bilayer tubular scaffold (BLTS) consisting of poly(l-lactide-co-caprolactone) (P(LLA-CL))/collagen submicron sized fibers and micron sized yarns, was prepared via electrospinning. Then, autologous tracheal epithelial cells and chondrocytes were separately seeded onto the two layers of the BLTS. After culturing for 7 days, the cell-seeded BLTS (CS-BLTS) was implanted and wrapped in rat tracheal fascia for pre-vascularization.

Incorporation of amoxicillin-loaded organic montmorillonite into poly(ester-urethane) urea nanofibers as a functional tissue engineering scaffold.

A dual drug-loaded system is a promising alternative for the sustained drug release system and skin tissue engineering. In this study, a natural sodium montmorillonite (Na-MMT) modified by cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) was prepared as a carrier to load a model drug - amoxicillin (AMX), the modified organic montmorillonite (CTAB-OMMT) loaded with AMX was marked as AMX@CTAB-OMMT and was subsequently incorporated into poly(ester-urethane) urea (PEUU) and gelatin hybrid nanofibers via electrospinning, resulting in a new drug-loaded nanofibrous scaffold (AMX@CTAB-OMMT-PU75). The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) result showed that the fiber morphology did not change after the embedding of AMX@CTAB-OMMT.

Synthesis of new morpholine-connected pyrazolidine derivatives and their antimicrobial, antioxidant, and cytotoxic activities.

A simple and convenient one-pot four-component synthesis of morpholine-connected pyrazolidine derivatives 2a-f and 4a-f was developed using direct metal-free catalysis, with the identities of the synthesized compounds confirmed by IR, NMR (H and C), mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis. The prepared compounds were inspected for antimicrobial, antioxidant, and cytotoxic activities. Antimicrobial and antifungal activities against five bacterial and four fungal pathogens, respectively, were investigated using the disc diffusion technique.

Polypyrrole-coated poly(l-lactic acid-co-ε-caprolactone)/silk fibroin nanofibrous membranes promoting neural cell proliferation and differentiation with electrical stimulation.

Polypyrrole (Ppy), as a conductive polymer, is commonly used for nerve tissue engineering because of its good conductivity and non-cytotoxicity. To avoid the inconvenience of Ppy processing, it was coated on electrospun poly(l-lactic acid-co-ε-caprolactone)/silk fibroin (PLCL/SF) nanofibers via the in situ oxidative polymerization of pyrrole monomers in this study. Ppy-coated PLCL/SF membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis.

Development of Dual Neurotrophins-Encapsulated Electrosupun Nanofibrous Scaffolds for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration.

Nerve growth factor (NGF) is widely used for repairing peripheral nerve injury because of its capability in dominating the survival, migration, proliferation, and differentiation of nerve cells. Monosialoganglioside (GM1), as another kind of nerve growth factor, works for regulating NGF function. In this study, GM1 and NGF were incorporated into the Poly(l-lactic acid-co-ε-caprolactone)/silk fibroin (PLCL/SF) nanofibers by the coaxial electrospinning.

TiO nanotube platforms for smart drug delivery: a review.

Titania nanotube (TNT) arrays are recognized as promising materials for localized drug delivery implants because of their excellent properties and facile preparation process. This review highlights the concept of localized drug delivery systems based on TNTs, considering their outstanding biocompatibility in a series of ex vivo and in vivo studies. Considering the safety of TNT implants in the host body, studies of the biocompatibility present significant importance for the clinical application of TNT implants.

A comparison of nanoscale and multiscale PCL/gelatin scaffolds prepared by disc-electrospinning.

Electrospinning is a versatile and convenient technology to generate nanofibers suitable for tissue engineering. However, the low production rate of traditional needle electrospinning hinders its applications. Needleless electrospinning is a potential strategy to promote the application of electrospun nanofiber in various fields.

Self-Junctioned Copper Nanofiber Transparent Flexible Conducting Film via Electrospinning and Electroplating.

Self-junctioned copper nanofiber transparent flexible films are produced using electrospinning and electroplating processes that provide high performances of T = 97% and Rs = 0.42 Ω sq(-1) by eliminating junction resistance at wire intersections. The film remains conductive after being stretched by up to 770% (films with T = 76%) and after 1000 cycles of bending to a 5 mm radius.

Scalable Binder-Free Supersonic Cold Spraying of Nanotextured Cupric Oxide (CuO) Films as Efficient Photocathodes.

We demonstrate production of nanotextured p-type cupric oxide (CuO) films via a low-cost scalable supersonic cold spray method in open air conditions. Simply sweeping the spray nozzle across a substrate produced a large-scale CuO film. When used as hydrogen evolution photocathodes, these films produced photocurrent densities (PCD) of up to 3.

Fabrication and characterization of vitamin B5 loaded poly (l-lactide-co-caprolactone)/silk fiber aligned electrospun nanofibers for schwann cell proliferation.

Bioengineering strategies for peripheral nerve regeneration have been focusing on the development of alternative treatments for nerve repair. In present study we have blended the Vitamin B5 (50mg) with 8% P(LLA-CL) and P(LLA-CL)/SF solutions and produced aligned electrospun nanofiber mashes and characterized the material for its physiochemical and mechanical characteristics. The vitamin loaded composites nanofibers showed tensile strength of 8.

Flexible, Freestanding, and Binder-free SnO(x)-ZnO/Carbon Nanofiber Composites for Lithium Ion Battery Anodes.

Here, we demonstrate the production of electrospun SnO(x)-ZnO polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers (NFs) that are flexible, freestanding, and binder-free. This NF fabric is flexible and thus can be readily tailored into a coin for further cell fabrication. These properties allow volume expansion of the oxide materials and provide shortened diffusion pathways for Li ions than those achieved using the nanoparticle approach.

Superelastic, superabsorbent and 3D nanofiber-assembled scaffold for tissue engineering.

Fabrication of 3D scaffold to mimic the nanofibrous structure of the nature extracellular matrix (ECM) with appropriate mechanical properties and excellent biocompatibility, remain an important technical challenge in tissue engineering. The present study reports the strategy to fabricate a 3D nanofibrous scaffold with similar structure to collagen in ECM by combining electrospinning and freeze-drying technique. With the technique reported here, a nanofibrous structure scaffold with hydrophilic and superabsorbent properties can be readily prepared by Gelatin and Polylactic acid (PLA).

Modified alginate and gelatin cross-linked hydrogels for soft tissue adhesive.

Soft tissue adhesives made from natural hydrogel are attractive in clinical applications due to their excellent properties, such as high water content, good biocompatibility, low immune, good biodegradability. Hydrogels derived from natural polysaccharides and proteins are ideal components for soft tissue adhesive since they resemble the extracellular matrices of the tissue composed of various sugar and amino acids-based macromolecules. In this paper, a series of novel tissue adhesives mixed by aldehyde sodium alginate (ASA) with amino gelatin (AG) were developed and characterized.

Elastic and hierarchical porous carbon nanofibrous membranes incorporated with NiFe2O4 nanocrystals for highly efficient capacitive energy storage.

Flexible membranes created from porous carbon nanofibers (CNFs) hold great promise in the next generation wearable energy storage devices, but challenges still remain due to the poor mechanical properties of porous carbon nanofibers. Here, we report a facile strategy to fabricate elastic and hierarchical porous CNF membranes with NiFe2O4 nanocrystals embedded via multicomponent electrospinning and nano-doping methods. Benefiting from the scattering effect of NiFe2O4 nanocrystals and graphitized carbon layers for the condensed stress, the resultant CNF membranes exhibit an enhanced elasticity with a bending radius <12 μm, rapid recovery from the deformations, and a superior softness.

Computational fluid dynamics study on mixing mode and power consumption in anaerobic mono- and co-digestion.

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was applied to investigate mixing mode and power consumption in anaerobic mono- and co-digestion. Cattle manure (CM) and corn stover (CS) were used as feedstock and stirred tank reactor (STR) was used as digester. Power numbers obtained by the CFD simulation were compared with those from the experimental correlation.