Preparation and characterization of chitin whisker-reinforced silk fibroin nanocomposite sponges

For highly porous form such as sponges or scaffolds, the induction of the β-sheet formation of silk fibroin to make the water-stable materials usually results in their high shrinkage leading to a difficulty in controlling shape and size of materials. Thus, the objective of this study was to improve dimensional stability of silk fibroin sponge by incorporating chitin whiskers as nanofiller. Chitin whiskers exhibited the average length and width of 427 and 43 nm, respectively. Nanocomposite sponges at chitin whiskers to silk fibroin weight ratio (C/S ratio) of 0, 1/8, 2/8, or 4/8 were prepared by using a freeze-drying technique. The dispersion of chitin whiskers embedded in the silk fibroin matrix was found to be homogeneous. The presence of chitin whiskers embedded into silk fibroin sponge not only improved its dimensional stability but also enhanced its compression strength. Regardless of the chitin whisker content, SEM micrographs showed that all samples possessed an interconnected pore network with an average pore size of 150 μm. To investigate the feasibility of the nanocomposites for tissue engineering applications, L929 cells were seeded onto their surfaces, the results indicated that silk fibroin sponges both with and without chitin whiskers were cytocompatible. Moreover, when compared to the neat silk fibroin sponge, the incorporation of chitin whiskers into the silk fibroin matrix was found to promote cell spreading.     

Highly porous PEEK and PEEK/HA scaffolds with Escherichia coli-derived recombinant BMP-2 and erythropoietin for enhanced osteogenesis and angiogenesis

The present study reports the results of structural and mechanical analysis, as well as proteins release kinetics and osteointegration in mice craniotomy model of highly porous PEEK (PolyEther Ether Ketone) and PEEK/HA (PolyEther Ether Ketone/HydroxyApatite) biomimetic scaffolds loaded with Escherichia coli-derived recombinant Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 (BMP-2) and ErythroPOietin (EPO). Porous scaffolds were obtained by thermopressing with NaCl as a pore-forming filler. Two fractions of pore-forming filler were used to imitate natural trabecular bone tissue by making a preferential porosity using large fraction and creating an extended surface and special microrelief using small fraction. Hydroxyapatite (HA) was added up to 20% to activate bioinert PEEK providing loading of recombinant growth factors and osteointegration as well as sufficient level of mechanical properties imitating human trabecular bone. Unexpectedly, the non-activated PEEK produced by our technology was also able to spontaneously bind both BMP-2 and EPO. Loading of both BMP-2 and EPO to both types of implants resulted in enhanced neoosteogenesis and angiogenesis in a critical-size cranial defect model in mice in 3–6 weeks. Considering good mechanical characteristics and excellent osteoinductive and angiogenic properties, both materials in combination with BMP-2 and EPO can find their application in regenerative medicine.     

Chemically induced phase separation in the preparation of porous epoxy monolith

A methodology for preparing porous epoxy monolith via chemically induced phase separation was proposed. The starting system was a mixture of an epoxy precursor, diglycidyl ether of bisphenol‐A (DGEBA), a curing agent, 4,4′‐diaminodiphenylmethane (DDM), and a thermoplastic polymer, polypropylene carbonate (PPC). As DGEBA was cured with DDM, the system became phase‐separated having PPC particles dispersed in epoxy matrix. After PPC particles were removed by thermal degradation, a porous structure was obtained. The phase separation mechanism was determined by the initial composition and illustrated by a pseudophase diagram. The pore size increased with increasing the concentration of PPC and raising the curing temperature. The intermediate and final morphologies of the system were studied using optical and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2010     

利用原子转移自由基聚合方法制备一种新型聚合物整体柱固相萃取材料初探

利用两步原子转移自由基聚合(ATRP)方法,初步建立了新型聚合物整体柱固相萃取(SPE)材料制备的新方法。首先利用ATRP方法,以乙二醇二甲基丙烯酸酯（EDMA）为交联剂,在室温条件下,在滤头中原位快速聚合制备得到负载有聚合物整体柱的萃取装置;然后采用表面诱导的电子转移活化再生原子转移自由基聚合(ARGET ATRP)方法进行表面修饰,得到了聚(二甲基氨基乙基甲基丙烯酸酯)(PDMAEMA)修饰的柱体;进一步将此整体柱用作萃取材料,实现了对激素类药物的富集分析。本研究表明:ATRP有望作为一种简单、有效及反应条件温和的聚合方法用于整体柱的制备,且该方法有潜力实现固相萃取材料在不同装置中的制备。     

Ferroferric oxide/chitosan scaffolds with three-dimensional oriented structure

A facile approach to construct ferroferric oxide/chitosan composite scaffolds with three-dimensional oriented structure has been explored in this research.Chitosan and ferroferric oxide are co-precipitated by using an in situ precipitation method,and then lyophilized to get the composite scaffolds.XRD indicated that Fe₃O₄ was generated during the gel formation process,and increasing the content of magnetic particles could destruct the crystal structure of chitosan. When the content of magnetic particles is lower than 10%,the layer-by-layer structure and wheel spoke structure arc coexisting in the scaffolds.Increasing the content of magnetic particles,just layer-by-layer structure could be observed in the scaffolds.Ferroferric oxide particles were uniformly distributed in the matrix,the size of which was about 0.48μm in diameter,2μm in length.Porosity of magnetic chitosan composite scaffolds is about 90%.When the ratio of ferroferric oxide to chitosan is 5/100,the compressive strength of the material is 0.4367 MPa,which is much higher than that of pure chitosan scaffolds,indicating that the layer-by-layer and wheel spokes complex structure is beneficial for the improvement of the mechanical properties of chitosan scaffolds.However,increasing the content of ferroferric oxide,the compressive strength of scaffolds decreased,because of the decreasing of chitosan crystallization and aggregation of magnetic particles as stress centralized body.Another reason is that the layer-by-layer and wheel spokes complex structure makes bigger contributions for the compressive strength than the layer-by-layer structure does.Three-dimensional ferroferric oxide/chitosan scaffolds could be used as hyperthermia generator system,improving the local circulation of blood, promoting the aggradation of calcium salt and stimulating bone tissue regeneration.     

Preparation of a neutral porous monolith and its evaluation in pressurized capillary electrochromatography with neutral and charged solutes

A neutral, nonpolar monolithic capillary column was evaluated as a hydrophobic stationary phase in pressurized CEC system for neutral, acidic and basic solutes. The monolith was prepared by in situ copolymerization of octadecyl methacrylate and ethylene dimethacrylate in a binary porogenic solvent consisting of cyclohexanol/1,4‐butanediol. EOF in this hydrophobic monolithic column was poor; even the pH value of the mobile phase was high. Because of the absence of fixed charges, the monolithic capillary column was free of electrostatic interactions with charged solutes. Separations of neutral solutes were based on the hydrophobic mechanism with the pressure as the driving force. The acidic and basic solutes were separated under pressurized CEC mode with the pressure and electrophoretic mobility as the driving force. The separation selectivity of charged solutes were based on their differences in electrophoretic mobility and hydrophobic interaction with the stationary phase, and no obvious peak tailing for basic analytes was observed. Effects of the mobile phase compositions on the retention of acidic compounds were also investigated. Under optimized conditions, high plate counts reaching 82 000 plates/m for neutral compounds, 134 000 plates/m for acid compounds and 150 000 plates/m for basic compounds were readily obtained.     

Preparation and structure of highly confined intercalated polystyrene/montmorillonite nanocomposite via a two-step method

A two-step approach with a combination of emulsion polymerization and melt intercalation with higher clay loading of 33 wt.% is disclosed to highly confine the polystyrene (PS) chains by montmorillonite. The product of the emulsion polymerization is an easily crushable fine powder. And the powder is readily processible by open mill to form a transparent sheet. In the melt intercalation process, further intercalation of polystyrene narrows the space among the tactoids and results a highly confined intercalated nanocomposite. The results of dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that the cooperative motions of PS segments were substantially depressed, indicative of the highly intercalated structure formed in the nanocomposites. A structural model is proposed to explain the highly confined mesostruture of the PS/MMT nanocomposite.     

Spectroscopic characterization of porous nanohydroxyapatite synthesized by a novel amino acid soft solution freezing method

In this paper, we have reported a novel method to synthesize nanoporous hydroxyapatite (HAP) powders by freezing organic–inorganic soft solutions. The formation of porous and crystalline HAP nanopowder was achieved via calcining the samples at 600 °C followed by sintering at temperatures ranging from 900 °C to 1100 °C. The samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) techniques. The results showed the formation of a carbon free nanoporous hydroxyapatite powders due to the decomposition of organic template enclosing the precipitated HAP. It was also observed that the rapid grain growth with retainment of pores while the crystallinity of the HAP nanopowder increased with the increase in sintering temperature which is substantiated from the XRD and SEM results. Such organized porous materials can act as a better biomaterial for bone tissue engineering.     

Preparation of polyacrylamide based monolith with immobilized pH gradient and its application for protein analysis

Monolithic materials were prepared in capillaries by in situ polymerization of acrylamide, glycidyl methacrylate and N,N′-memylenebisacrylamid in the presence of trinary porogens, including 1,4-butanediol, dodecanol and dimethyl sulphoxide. With Ampholine immobilized on the monolith by chemical bonding according to their pIs, the monolithic immobilized pH gradient (M-IPG) was prepared, and applied to the separation of four standard proteins. Compared with polyacrylate based M-IPG, the hydrophilicity of the new material was improved. It could not only avoid the adsorption of proteins, but also make the synthesized procedure simple, which showed great potential in the analysis of proteins.     

Preparation of porous polylactide microspheres by emulsion‐solvent evaporation based on solution induced phase separation

Porous polylactide (PLA) microspheres were fabricated by an emulsion‐solvent evaporation method based on solution induced phase separation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations confirmed the porous structure of the microspheres with good connectivity. The pore size was in the range of decade micrometers. Besides large cavities as similarly existed on non‐porous microspheres, small pores were found on surfaces of the porous microspheres. The apparent density of the porous microspheres was much smaller than that of non‐porous microspheres. Fabrication conditions such as stirring rate, good solvent/non‐solvent ratio, PLA concentration and dispersant (polyvinyl alcohol, PVA) concentration had an important influence on both the particle size and size distribution and the pore size within the microspheres. A larger pore size was achieved at a slower stirring rate, lower good solvent/non‐solvent ratio or lower PLA concentration due to longer coalescence time. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of sodium alginate-xanthan gum based nanocomposite scaffolds reinforced with cellulose nanocrystals and halloysite nanotubes

Sodium alginate (Alg) and xanthan gum (XG) based nanocomposite scaffolds reinforced with various amounts of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and/or halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) were prepared by freeze-casting/drying method. In this study, the structure-property-performance relationship was mainly focused and analysed. Morphological analysis showed high porosity and pore-interconnectivity (pore channels) in all obtained scaffolds. Structural analysis demonstrates the good interfacial interactions and uniform dispersion of the CNCs and HNTs, involving partial orientation within the polymeric network. The water uptake capacity (from 14.73.7 ± 0.46 g/g to 11.34 ± 0.32 g/g) and porosity (from 91.7 ± 0.81% to 88.5 ± 0.64%) were reduced. The compressive strengths (in dry state from 91.1 ± 1.2 kPa to 114.4 ± 0.6 kPa and in wet state from 9.0 ± 0.8 kPa to 10.6 ± 0.8 kPa), thermal stability, cytocompatibility (MC3T3-E1 osteoblastic cells) of the nanocomposite scaffolds improved as compared to Alg and AlgX scaffolds without CNCs and/or HNTs. The obtained scaffolds may be appropriate as scaffolding material in bone tissue engineering.     

Helical polyurethane@attapulgite nanocomposite: Preparation, characterization and study of optical activity

Helical polyurethane@attapulgite (BM-ATT) based on R-1,1′-binaphthyl-2′,2-diol (R-BINOL) composite was prepared after the surface modification of attapulgite (ATT). BM-ATT was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HTEM) and vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectroscopy. FT-IR and XRD analyses indicate that the helical polyurethane has been successfully grafted onto the surfaces of the modified ATT without destroying the original crystalline structure of ATT. BM-ATT exhibits the rod-like structure by SEM, TEM, and HTEM photographs. BM-ATT displays obvious Cotton effect for some absorbance in VCD spectrum, and its optical activity results from the singlehanded conformation of helical polyurethane.     

Poly(glycerin 1,3‐dimethacrylate)‐based monolith with a bicontinuous structure tailored as HPLC column by photoinitiated in situ radical polymerization via viscoelastic phase separation

In this article we described our new approach to the polymer monolith with its morphology tailored for HPLC application to small solutes such as drug candidates. We prepared polymer monoliths based on glycerin 1,3‐dimethacrylate, GDMA with a bicontinuous structure by in situ photoinitiated free radical polymerization (UV irradiation at 365 nm). Our photopolymerization was carried out with a monodispese ultra high molecular weight polystyrene solution in chlorobenzene uniquely formulated as a porogen. The poly‐GDMA monoliths in bulk, rod and capillary thus prepared showed a bicontinuous network‐like structure featured by their fine skeletal thickness nearly in sub μm size. This monolithic structure was considered as a time‐evolved morphology frozen by UV‐irradiation via viscoelastic phase separation induced by the said porogenic polystyrene solution. According to our μHPLC measurement with acetophenone as a model solute, the UV prepared poly‐GDMA capillary demonstrated a much shaper elution profile affording higher column efficiency and permeability as compared with the thermally prepared capillary of the same bore size. Our investigation showed experimentally that poly‐GDMA monoliths with a well‐defined bicontinuous structure could be prepared reproducibly by photoinitiated radical polymerization via viscoelastic phase separation using the said unique porogen. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 4651–4673, 2008     

铜锰复合低温NH3-SCR整体催化剂的制备及其性能研究

以堇青石蜂窝陶瓷为载体,采用溶胶-凝胶法在其表面不同质量比交替负载Mn-Ce-O/TiO₂和Cu-Ce-O/TiO₂得到多层复合催化剂,用于NH₃选择性催化还原NO。活性测试表明,在两种活性层的共同作用下,复合催化剂有很好的低温活性和很宽的活性温度窗口。以氨气为还原剂,NO浓度为1025mg/m³,空速12600h^-1时,在250℃下NO的转化率就可以达到95%;200℃~300℃下,NO的转化率高于80%。对比实验表明,在此条件下复合催化剂的催化效果明显优于Mn-Ce-O/TiO₂/CC和Cu-Ce-O/TiO₂/CC单活性相催化剂。BET、XRD、XPS及TPR测试表明,催化剂的高活性与其较大的比表面积、较高含量的无定形分布活性组分、锐钛矿型TiO₂、丰富的表面裂纹及良好的氧化还原性能有关。     

Preparation of poly (methyl methacrylate)/LDH nanocomposite by exfoliation-adsorption process

Exfoliated nanocomposite based on Mg, Al layered double hydroxide (Mg,Al-LDH) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) has been prepared by exfoliation/adsorption process with acetone as co-solvent. The product was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal analysis and High Resolution Transmission Electronic Microscope (HREM). The results suggest that the brucite-like sheets of LDH disperse individually in the polymer matrix, and the thermal stability of the nanocomposite increases highly.     

采用一锅法制备量子点/琼脂纳米复合凝胶

以天然高分子琼脂为稳定剂,采用简单便捷的一锅法制备Mn掺杂ZnS量子点/琼脂纳米复合凝胶,琼脂不仅作为制备量子点的稳定剂,同时也是纳米复合凝胶的主要成分。对该纳米复合凝胶中量子点的化学结构和尺寸大小进行了表征,并对纳米复合凝胶的荧光性能和凝胶性能进行了研究。实验结果表明,制备得到的纳米复合凝胶均一稳定,在302 nm紫外光下呈现十分明显的橙红色荧光。在该纳米复合凝胶的透射电子显微镜（TEM）表征中可以观察到大小比较均一、粒径为3 nm左右的纳米粒子,光谱分析结果进一步证实纳米复合凝胶中存在Mn掺杂ZnS量子点。该纳米复合凝胶不仅具有良好的荧光性能,还具有温度刺激响应性可逆溶胶-凝胶转变性能,同时具有较高的溶胶转变温度和较好的温度稳定性。利用这些性能特点,可以方便地制备纳米复合凝胶小球。此外,该纳米复合凝胶还可以被潜在应用于金属离子的荧光检测分析领域。     

Preparation and application of a novel molecularly imprinted solid‐phase microextraction monolith for selective enrichment of cholecystokinin neuropeptides in human cerebrospinal fluid

A novel molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) monolith for highly selective extraction of cholecystokinin (CCK) neuropeptides was prepared in a micropipette tip. The MIPs were synthesized by epitope imprinting technique and the polymerization conditions were investigated and optimized. The synthesized MIPs were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, elemental analyzer and scanning electron microscope. A molecularly imprinted solid‐phase microextraction (MI‐μ‐SPE) method was developed for the extraction of CCK neuropeptides in aqueous solutions. The parameters affecting MI‐μ‐SPE were optimized. The results indicated that this MIP monolith exhibited specific recognition capability and high enrichment efficiency for CCK neuropeptides. In addition, it showed excellent reusability. This MIP monolith was used for desalting and enrichment of CCK4, CCK5 and CCK8 from human cerebrospinal fluid prior to matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry analysis, and the results show that this MIP monolith can be a useful tool for effective purification and highly selective enrichment of multiple homologous CCK neuropeptides in cerebrospinal fluid simultaneously. By employing MI‐μ‐SPE combined with HPLC‐ESI‐MS/MS analysis, endogenous CCK4 in human cerebrospinal fluid was quantified. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determination of urinary 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine by capillary electrophoresis with molecularly imprinted monolith in-tube solid phase microextraction

<正>Urinary 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine(8-OHdG) is an excellent marker of oxidative DNA damage.In this study,employing guanosine as dummy template a novel molecularly imprinted(MIP) monolithic capillary column had been synthesized,and that was used as medium of in-tube solid phase microextraction(SPME).Coupled with capillary electrophoresis-electrochemical detection(CE-ECD),the system of extraction and detection of 8-OHdG in urinary sample had been developed.Because of its greater phase ratio combined with convective mass transfer and inherent selectivity,the MIP monolithic column exhibited high extraction efficiency on target analyte with the limit of detection(LOD) and quantity(LOQ) reached 2.6 nmol/L(S/N = 3) and 8.6 nmol/L(S/N= 10),respectively.The linear range was from 10 nmol/L to 1.5μmol/L(r = 0.9999) with relative standard deviation(RSD) 3.7%for peak current,and 0.5%for migration time,and the average recovery of spiked 20-200 nmol/L 8-OHdG was 85%±3.5%(n = 6).This highly sensitive method was applied to analysis of 8-OHdG in urinary samples from healthy volunteers,coking plant workers and lung cancer patients.     

Preparation and characterization of polystyrene-based monolith with ordered macroporous structure

In this paper,polystyrene-based monoliths with highly ordered macroporous structure were synthesized by using SiO₂ colloidal crystal as template.SEM observation shows that the macropores are highly ordered and are interconnected by small windows.The BET surface area of PS monolith is about 36.17 m²/g.The polymer monoliths can resist 5 MPa pressure,showing high mechanical and compressive strength.