Preparation and Characterization of Poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide-co-ε-caprolactone) Scaffolds by Thermally Induced Phase Separation

Abstract

The technique of thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) is favorable for the fabrication of a porous scaffold due to a number of advantages. In this work the poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide-co-ε-caprolactone) (PLLGC) terpolymer was synthesized by melt copolymerization and porous scaffolds thereof from its solution in 1,4-dioxane were fabricated by using the TIPS method. The effects of fabrication parameters, including polymer concentration and freezing temperature, on the morphology, pore size and mechanical properties were studied. The results showed that the average pore size of the PLLGC porous scaffold increased with a decrease in PLLGC concentration and the pore size resulting from freezing at 4?°C (about 20–100?μm) was significantly larger than for other samples (20–50?μm) frozen at lower temperatures. The porosity of the scaffolds decreased with increasing PLLGC concentration or decreasing freezing temperature. On the other hand, the compressive strength of the scaffolds increased with the increase of PLLGC concentration or the decrease of freezing temperature, as would be expected. The present results can be applied in design to control the processing parameters of TIPS for a scaffold with desired pore morphology.     

Relationship Between Interfacial Adhesion and Viscosity of Cellulose Fiber Filled Polypropylene and Poly(ε-caprolactone): A Review

The relationship between interfacial adhesion and dynamic viscosity of regenerated cellulose fiber (CF) filled in poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and polypropylene (PP) matrix is compared. The rate of viscosity rise from its virgin polymer of the PCL/CF compounds shows higher than that of the PP/CF ones at the same CF loadings. The interfacial adhesion of the CF surface with the PCL matrix is better than with the PP due to polar characteristic of the PCL. Striking differences are observed in the PCL compounds. As the concentration of the particles increases, the crystalline temperature, the spherulite formation, the elongation modulus and the yield stress of the PCL/CF compounds are significantly higher than those of the PP/CF compounds. More spherulites are locally developed on the CF surface in the PCL/CF compounds than in the PP/CF ones. The higher rate of viscosity rise of the PCL/CF compounds than the PP/CF compounds is due to higher interfacial adhesion of the CF surface with the PCL than with the PP.     

Preparation and Characterization of Poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide-co-ε-caprolactone)/Nano-biaoactive Glass-Nano-β-tricalcium Phosphate Composite Scaffolds

Abstract

Polymeric/ceramic composite scaffolds that are biocompatible and biodegradable are widely used for tissue engineering applications. In this work a series of poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide-co-ε-caprolactone)/nano-biaoactive glass-nano-β-tricalcium phosphate composite scaffolds were successfully fabricated and the influences of the inorganic content and freezing temperature on the physical properties were studied. The composite scaffolds with various inorganic contents showed an interconnected pore structure with irregular shapes. The composite scaffolds had a porosity that was reduced with increasing inorganic content and decreasing freezing temperature. The incorporation of inorganic fillers and decreasing freezing temperature improved the mechanical properties of the hybrid scaffolds. By appropriate control of these two factors (10.0?wt% content of NBAG and β-TCP with freezing at ?30?°C) a suitable composite scaffold was prepared as a potential bone tissue engineering implant.     

Preparation and In-vitro Degradation Behavior of Poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide-co-ε-caprolactone) Terpolymer

A random terpolymer of poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide-co-ε-caprolactone) (PLLGC) was synthesized from L-lactide, glycolide and ε-caprolactone. The in-vitro hydrolytic degradation behavior of the PLLGC terpolymer was investigated as a function of the degradation time; the results showed that the degradation rate of PLLGC was lower than that of PLGA due to a reduction in the acidic degradation products. Therefore, we suggest the degradation rate of the PLGA could be controllable by introduction of ε-caprolactone into the PLGA martrix, while the physical properties (mechanical, etc.) were superior to PLGA.     

Preparation and Characterization of Inorganic–Organic Composites with Highly Dense CdS Nanoparticles Using Poly(2-acetamidoacrylic acid) Hydrogels

We report the template-based synthesis of inorganic CdS nanoparticles (NPs) in the interior of a poly(2-acetamidoacrylic acid) (PAAA) hydrogel as a novel type of nanocomposite by ion exchange in an aqueous system. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed that the semiconductor CdS NPs was dispersed homogeneously in the hydrogel without particle aggregation. The average crystallite sizes calculated from the X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) pattern using the Scherrer equation, the absorption threshold from the ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectra and TEM were 3.02, 5.16 and 5.2 nm, respectively. In contrast to the uncapped CdS NPs, which had precipitated from the solution immediately after the reaction, the CdS NPs capped by the PAAA hydrogels did not show any observable changes, even after 6 months. This was confirmed by the lack of a red-shift in the absorption edge of the PAAA-capped CdS NPs and by TEM. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that the CdS-embedded PAAA gel had superior thermal stability to the pure PAAA gel. In addition, the CdS NPs content in the dry composite gel was more than 70 wt%, indicating that the PAAA hydrogels have a large holding capacity for CdS NPs.     

Preparation and Degradation Behaviors of Poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide-co-ε-caprolactone)/1,4-butanediamine Modified Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) Blend Film

Abstract

Polymer blending is an attractive method for producing new polymer materials with excellent properties. In this work the blended polymers were prepared from poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide-co-ε-caprolactone) and 1,4-butanediamine modified poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLLGC/BMPLGA). The hydrophilicity was studied by static water contact angle tests. The in-vitro degradation behaviors of the PLLGC/BMPLGA blended films were investigated during various degradation periods. The results showed that the introduction of the PLLGC reduced the hydrophilicity and degradation rate of the blended polymers while improved the tensile strength and elongation percentage. Therefore, we suggest the blends of the PLLGC and BMPLGA could supply a potential biomaterial for application in the medical field for use as tissue engineering scaffolds or drug delivery.     

Miscibility Determination in Poly(ε-caprolactone)/Poly(Vinyl Formal) Blend by Equilibrium Melting Temperature and Spherulite Morphology

Miscibility of poly(ε-caprolactone), (PCL), containing 1, 5, and 10 wt.% poly(vinyl formal) (PVF) blends was investigated by polarized optical microscopy (POM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) for spherulitic morphology and equilibrium melting temperature (T°_m, via Hoffman-Weeks plot). The T°_m of PCL in the blends was similar to that of pure PCL, indicating immiscibility. Isothermally, melt crystallized virgin PCL between 30°C and 50°C showed spherulitic morphology with negative birefringence, Maltese cross, and without extinction rings. The nucleation and growth rates of PCL spherulites were found to be dramatically reduced with the addition of PVF. Extinction rings and a change in the sign of the birefringence of the PCL spherulites were observed and were found to be dependent on blend composition and crystallization temperature. The presence of a ring pattern in spherulites was an indication of miscibility between the two polymers that had failed to be detected by thermal methods. The formation of a ring pattern is discussed in terms of lamella twisting originating from a change in the crystallization mechanism.     

Mechanical and Morphological Properties and Deformation Mechanisms of Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene/Poly(ϵ-Caprolactone) Blends with Varied Matrix Composition

Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene and poly(?-caprolactone) blends (ABS/PCL) were prepared by mixing styrene-co-acrylonitrile (SAN), polybutadiene-g-SAN (PB-g-SAN), and PCL with varied SAN and PCL composition. PCL is miscible with SAN and can improve the matrix toughness. The impact strength and elongation at break of the ABS/PCL blends increased with the PCL content. When the PCL content was lower than 20 wt%, the improvement of impact strength for the blends was not obvious. A significant increase of impact strength took place when the PCL content was between 20 and 25 wt%. When PCL content was more than 20 wt%, the impact strength was higher than 800 J/m which shows the super toughness. The addition of PCL improved the dispersed phase morphology of PB-g-SAN in the matrix and the interfacial adhesion increased. Deformation observations showed that, when the PCL content was lower than 20 wt%, crazing was the major deformation mode. When the PCL content was 20 wt%, crazing and slight shear yielding could be found. When the PCL content was more than 20 wt%, cavitation of rubber particles and shear yielding of the matrix were the major deformation modes. The cause of the change of the deformation mode lies in the varied matrix composition which modifies the crazing and yielding stresses of the matrix and the final fracture mode and impact toughness.     

A DSC and DMA study of polymers with crystallizable side chains: Poly (α-olefin-co-maleic anhydride)

The thermal behavior of a series of poly(α-olefin-co-maleic anhydride) copolymers was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Polymers with side-chain lengths of 16, 18, and 23 carbons were found to have crystallizable side chains. The melting point and heat of fusion of the side chains increased with increasing side-chain length. Glass transition temperatures were observed to be greater than the side-chain melting points. The molecular weight dependence of the T_g's obeyed the Fox-Flory relationship, with T_g ^∞ = 129°C and k = 1.5 × 10⁵. A spectroscopic method to monitor the extent of hydrolysis of the maleic anhydride units was developed, and the hydrodynamic volume in THF was observed to be dependent on the extent of hydrolysis.     

Study on Phase Formation and Evolution of High Impact Polystyrene with Poly(Cis‐Butadiene) Rubber Blends

Phase formation and evolution of high‐impact polystyrene with poly(cis‐butadiene) rubber blends was studied. The characteristic length, L, was defined to describe the size of particles, and the graph‐estimation method was introduced to determine the width of the distribution of L. Based on the method, the distribution of L proved to be a log‐normal distribution and the distribution width of L was calculated. The phase structure was also discussed in the wave‐number space. The correlation distance, a _c , was defined and computed, applying light‐scattering theory to power spectrum images obtained by 2‐dimensional Fourier transformation (2DFT). The change of a _c was in accord with that of L, which meant 2DFT was valid to study the phase structure. A fractal dimension, D _c , was introduced to describe the uniformity of the spatial distribution. The result showed that D _c was an effective parameter to study the distribution of particles of the dispersed phase.     

Optimization and improvement of TIPS–pentacene transistors (OTFT) with UV–ozone and chemical treatments using an all-step solution process

We fabricated an organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) using an all-step solution process. The printed layers, in which the electrode (silver), dielectric layer (BaTiO₃–PMMA), source–drain layer, and semiconductor 6,13-Bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl)pentacene(TIPS–pentacene), were optimized using roll-to-roll, an inkjet printer, and drop-casting. After coating the source–drain layer, we applied ultraviolet (UV)–ozone and self-assembled monolayer (SAM) treatments to the composite layer. The OTFTs treated with the UV–ozone and SAM treatments were found to exhibit excellent performance and good properties in comparison to silicon-based OTFTs.     

Production ofH(2s) andH(2p) by electron detachment fromH − in collisions with nitrogen and oxygen

¹⁹⁹Hg Fourier Transform NMR studies of various solutions of diverse mercury salts in H₂O and D₂O or in the appropriate protonated and deuterated acids are reported for both Hg ₂ ⁺⁺ and Hg⁺⁺. In the different solutions investigated the¹⁹⁹Hg line positions depend on the concentration of the solution, on the solvents and their isotopic composition and on the temperature of the sample. A ratio of the Larmor frequency of¹⁹⁹Hg and of²H in a Hg(NO₃)₂ solution in dilute DNO₃ is given. Using this ratio and the measured chemical shifts, a ratio of the Larmor frequencies of¹⁹⁹Hg for infinite dilution relative to²H in pure D₂O is given. From this a g_I-factor for¹⁹⁹Hg is derived and compared with the g_I-factor of an optical pumping experiment. The resulting shielding constant is σ^* (hydrated¹⁹⁹Hg⁺⁺ versus¹⁹⁹Hg atom)=?24.32(5) · 10^?4. This yields an atomic reference scale for all measured NMR line shifts of mercury.     

Thermal and Tribological Properties of Fullerene‐Containing Composite Systems. Part 3. Features of the Mechanism of Thermal Degradation of Poly‐(N‐Vinyl‐Pyrrolidone) and Its Compositions with Fullerene C60

By mass‐spectrometric thermal analysis (MTA) the thermochemical features of poly(N‐vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) and its compositions with fullerene C₆₀ were studied. The mechanism of PVP thermal degradation was investigated; in particular the nature of the low‐temperature degradation (between 75 and 300°C) accompanied by output of pyrrolidone was explained as well as the influence of fullerene C₆₀ on this mechanism. It was shown that during thermal degradation of copolymer PVP‐C₆₀, there is a disappearance of the low‐temperature peaks of the output of pyrrolidone that is interpreted as an increase of the thermal stability of N‐vinyl‐pyrrolidone fragments in this product in comparison with their thermal stability in pure PVP.     

Comment on “Nonlocal third-order shear deformation plate theory with application to bending and vibration of plates (by R. Aghababaei and J.N. Reddy,Journal of Sound and Vibration 326 (2009) 277–289)”

This paper aims to prove the inaccuracy of the Navier solution presented by Aghababaei and Reddy [1] for the bending analysis of nanoplates based on the nonlocal theory of Eringen. According to the derived relations for bending of the nonlocal plate model, the main cause of this inaccuracy is attributed to an incorrect approximation of the Navier solution for a uniform transverse load. Of course, this problem does not inherently occur for the Navier solution in cases such as free vibration or the buckling of a nonlocal plate model in which the amount of transverse load is zero. In order to obtain further verification the results reported based on the Navier solution by Aghababaei and Reddy (2009, [1]) for the bending analysis of a nanoplate are compared with those computed by the differential quadrature (DQ) and finite difference (FD) methods. As shown, the results obtained by both the FD and DQ methods are consistently alike and unlike the solutions reported by Aghababaei and Reddy (2009, [1]) they are independent from small scale effect.     

Reply to the comments of M.E. Golmakani and J. Rezatalab,Comment on “Nonlocal third-order shear deformation plate theory with application to bending and vibration of plates” (by R. Aghababaei and J.N. Reddy,Journal of Sound and Vibration 326 (2009) 277–289), Journal of Sound Vibration, 333 (2014) 3831–3835

Golmakani and Rezatalab [1] suggested in their paper that the deflection of a simply supported nonlocal elastic plate under uniform load is not affected by the small length scale terms. They based their proof on the use of Navier?s method using a sinusoidal-based deflection solution. This insensitivity of the deflection solution of a simply supported nonlocal elastic plate with respect to the small length terms of Eringen?s model is not correct, as already detailed in the literature (for example, see [2] for beam problems). In fact, the deflection of the nonlocal plate (in the Eringen sense) is larger than the one of the local case, as shown in many papers available in the literature. We prove in this reply to the authors that the Navier?s method has to be correctly applied for highlighting the specific sensitivity phenomenon of the deflection solution, as compared to exact analytical solution.     

Reflective Ability and Radiation Stability of BaZrxTi(1–x)O3 Powders Synthesized with the Use of TiO2 Nanoparticles

Russian Physics Journal -     

Corrigendum to “Noether symmetries and conserved quantities for spaces with a section of zero curvature” [J. Geom. Phys. 61 (2011) 658–662]

In Feroze and Hussain (2011) it was proved that the number of new conserved quantities for spaces or spacetimes with an $m$-dimensional section of zero curvature is $m$. This result needs modification as it holds for the spaces having no proper homothetic vector (i.e. other than isometries).