Assessment of the structures contribution (crystalline and mesophases) and mechanical properties of polycaprolactone/pluronic blends.

J Mech Behav Biomed Mater

Department of Chemistry and CSGI, University of Florence, Via della Lastruccia 3-13, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy.

Published: March 2023

Films of biodegradable blends of polycaprolactone (PCL) and Pluronics F68 and F127 were manufactured by an industrial thermo-mechanical process to be applied as potential delivery systems. The effects of Pluronics on the structure (mesophase organization), and thermal and mechanical properties of polycaprolactone were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), polarized optical microscopy (POM) and tensile mechanical tests. The addition of Pluronics affected the crystallization process by changing the relative amounts of crystalline, amorphous, and meso- (condis + plastic) phases. The melting transition and XRD profiles were deconvoluted to assess the individual contribution of the different crystal morphologies. Furthermore, it was found that the mechanical properties of the blends depended on the ratio and type of Pluronic. Thus, Pluronic F127 showed a larger mesophase content than its F68 counterpart with PCL and blends with enhanced ductility.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2023.105668DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

mechanical properties
12
assessment structures
4
structures contribution
4
contribution crystalline
4
crystalline mesophases
4
mechanical
4
mesophases mechanical
4
properties polycaprolactone/pluronic
4
blends
4
polycaprolactone/pluronic blends
4

Similar Publications

Direct Assembly of Grooved Micro/Nanofibrous Aerogel for High-Performance Thermal Insulation via Electrospinning.

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces

January 2025

CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.

Maintaining human body temperature in both high and low-temperature environments is fundamental to human survival, necessitating high-performance thermal insulation materials to prevent heat exchange with the external environment. Currently, most fibrous thermal insulation materials are characterized by large weight, suboptimal thermal insulation, and inferior mechanical and waterproof performance, thereby limiting their effectiveness in providing thermal protection for the human body. In this study, lightweight, waterproof, mechanically robust, and thermal insulating polyamide-imide (PAI) grooved micro/nanofibrous aerogels were efficiently and directly assembled by electrospinning.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Biomechanical Principles of Spinal Deformity Correction in the Thoracolumbar Spine.

J Am Acad Orthop Surg

January 2025

From the Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO (Shaw), Children's Health Ireland at Temple Street, Dublin, Ireland (O'Sullivan), the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (Wang and Aubin), and the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (Wang and Aubin).

Thoracolumbar spinal deformities are a pervasive condition affecting the adolescent and adult patient population. These deformities represent three-dimensional alterations in the coronal, sagittal, and transverse planes with implication on the local, regional, and global alignment. With continued studies, the importance of the overall correction on long-term outcomes has been established.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a serious side effect of anticancer agents with limited effective preventive or therapeutic interventions. Although fenofibrate, a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPARα) agonist, has demonstrated neuroprotective and analgesic properties, its clinical utility is hindered by low receptor affinity, poor subtype selectivity, and suboptimal bioavailability. A190, a highly selective and potent nonfibrate PPARα agonist, offers a promising alternative but is limited by poor aqueous solubility, resulting in reduced oral bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Anti-icing properties of polar bear fur.

Sci Adv

January 2025

Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, Allegaten 55, Bergen 5007, Norway.

The polar bear () is the only Arctic land mammal that dives into water to hunt. Despite thermal insulation provided by blubber and fur layers and low Arctic temperatures, their fur is typically observed to be free of ice. This study investigates the anti-icing properties of polar bear fur.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Life on the nanoscale has been made accessible in recent decades by the development of fast and noninvasive techniques. High-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) is one such technique that shed light on single protein dynamics. Extending HS-AFM to effortlessly incorporate mechanical property mapping while maintaining fast imaging speed allows a look deeper than topography and reveal details of nanoscale mechanisms that govern life.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!