Controlling phase distributions in macroporous composite materials through particle-stabilized foams

Aqueous foams stabilized by ceramic and thermoplastic polymeric particles provide a general method for producing novel porous materials because their extraordinary stability against disproportionation and drainage allows them to be dried and sintered into solid materials. Here, we report the different microstructures that can be obtained from liquid foams stabilized by binary mixtures of particles when the interfacial energies between the particles and the air-liquid interfaces are manipulated to promote either preferential or competitive self-assembly of the particles at the foam interface. Modification of the interfacial energies was accomplished through surface modification of the particles or by decreasing the surface tension of the aqueous phase. Materials derived from liquid foams stabilized by poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and alumina (Al(2)O(3)) particles are investigated. However, as is shown, the method can be extended to other polymeric and ceramic particles and provides the possibility to manufacture a wide range of porous composite materials.     

FEM simulation of polymeric foam with random pore structure: Uniaxial compression with loading rate effect

This study establishes FEM modeling for compressive deformation behavior of polymeric foams with different loading rates. The polymeric foam used in this study was made from polypropylene (the base matrix of the polymer) with porosity of about 95%. The pore size and shape were randomly distributed in the foam. The X-ray CT method was first conducted to observe the microstructure, the geometric feature of which was reproduced in the FEM model. Uniaxial compression tests with different loading speeds were carried out to investigate an effect of loading rate (strain rate) dependency on the deformation behavior. By using the X-ray CT method, in situ observation of microscopic deformation was carried out. Furthermore, FEM computations were carried out to simulate macroscopic and microscopic deformation behaviors. The random porous structure was modeled using Surface Evolver. The elastoplastic property with strain rate dependency was used in this model. The established FEM framework may be useful for a porous polymer with a random pore structure and for deformation modeling with strain rate effect.     

Preparation of CoNi high surface area porous foams by substrate controlled electrodeposition

We demonstrate that nanofabrication of 3D dendritic CoNi alloy foams with an open porous structure can be achieved by electrodeposition onto a single-crystalline Cu(111) substrate at ambient conditions. The very low wettability of this substrate caused by its low surface energy allows tailoring the CoNi deposit morphology. This is concluded from a comparison of polycrystalline Cu substrates with single-crystalline ones of different orientations. The advantages of the present CoNi alloy foams are low internal stresses and good mechanical stability on the substrate. In a second step, by comparing the catalytic properties of the achieved foam with those of CoNi layers obtained on polycrystalline Cu substrates, it is shown that the morphology of the CoNi layers has a decisive influence on the kinetics of the surface redox reaction. The higher reaction rate makes the open foam suitable as catalyst for oxygen evolution in electrolysers. The reversibility of the redox process provides great potential for the achieved porous layers to be used as positive material in alkaline batteries.     

Ionically crosslinked alginate/carboxymethyl chitin beads for oral delivery of protein drugs

Complex beads composed of alginate and carboxymethyl chitin (CMCT) were prepared by dropping aqueous alginate-CMCT into an iron(III) solution. The structure and morphology of the beads were characterized by IR spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). IR confirmed electrostatic interactions between iron(III) and the carboxyl groups of alginate as well as CMCT, and the binding model was suggested as a three-dimensional structure. SEM revealed that CMCT had a porous morphology while alginate and their complex beads had a core-layer structure. The swelling behavior, encapsulation efficiency, and release behavior of bovine serum albumin (BSA) from the beads at different pHs were investigated. The BSA encapsulation efficiency was fairly high (>90%). It was found that CMCT disintegrated at pH 1.2 and alginate eroded at pH 7.4 while the complex beads could effectively retain BSA in acid (>85%) and reduce the BSA release at pH 7.4. The results suggested that the iron(III)-alginate-CMCT bead could be a suitable polymeric carrier for site-specific protein drug delivery in the intestine.     

Electrohydrodynamic atomization for biodegradable polymeric particle production

Electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA) has many applications such as electrospray ionization in mass spectroscopy, electrospray deposition of thin films, pharmaceutical productions, and polymeric particle fabrications for drug encapsulation. In the present study, EHDA was employed to produce biodegradable polymeric micro- and nanoparticles. The effects of processing parameters such as polymer concentration, flow rate, surfactants, organic salt, and setup configurations on the size and morphology of polymeric particles were investigated systematically. By changing the various processing parameters, controllable particle shape and size can be achieved. PLGA nanoparticles with size of around 250 nm can be obtained by using organic salts to increase the conductivity of the spraying solution even at a relatively high flow rate. A higher flow rate has the advantage of producing a stable cone spray and can be easily reproduced. Solid and porous particles can be fabricated using different experimental setups to control the organic solvent evaporation rate. Also, paclitaxel, a model antineoplastic drug, was encapsulated in polymeric particles which can be employed for controlled release applications. In short, EHDA is a promising technique to fabricate polymeric micro- or nanoparticles which can be used in drug delivery systems.     

Microfibrillated cellulose foams obtained by a straightforward freeze–thawing–drying procedure

Microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) is continuously gaining attention due to its outstanding mechanical properties, in particular high strength-to-weight ratio. Recently, more and more studies target the production of porous materials, such as foams, out of this natural resource. Commonly, an energy-consuming freeze–drying method is utilized for producing pure MFC porous structures from water-based suspensions, which renders these products particularly unattractive for industry. Although alternatives for foam production have been proposed, using either modified MFC or with various additives, the freeze–drying step is still one of the most critical bottle-neck of MFC foam production upscaling. A novel straightforward freeze–thawing–drying procedure assisted by the common additive urea was herein proposed. Such method allows the production of mechanically stable, lightweight MFC structures under low-cost ambient conditions drying. The influence of the cellulose fibril characteristics, the suspension formulation and the process parameters on the final foam properties have been studied in terms of porosity, density and mechanical properties.     

Effect of equilibrium and dynamic surface activity of surfactant on foam transport in porous medium

An apparatus containing a visual porous medium plate model and digital video recorder was employed to investigate the transportation of foam stabilized by sodium polyoxyethylene alkylether sulfate (AES), sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) and TritonX-100 in porous medium. The results showed that transfiguration and fracture were the main transport manners for foam in the porous medium at high gas and liquid transfusion rate. The increase in probability of transfiguration in foam transport process corresponded to the higher flow impedance. A simple U-shape device was designed to investigate the rigidity of surfactant layer at the gas/liquid interface, and the equilibrium surface tension was assigned to be the key parameter which manifests the rigidity of surfactant interface layer. The dynamic surface tension of different surfactant system has also been measured, and the parameters gotten by Rosen model might be the measurement of dynamic elasticity of surfactant interface layer. There is consanguineous relation between the equilibrium surface activity or dynamic activity of the surfactants and the transport of the foam in the porous medium.     

Mathematical Model of Foam Flowing Characteristics by Snap-Off Mechanisms at Steady State in Porous Media

Flow characteristics and regeneration processes of foams were influenced by lamella properties and pore-throat structure in porous media. In this article, porous media was simplified as a bunch of constricted capillary tubes according to grain size, pore-throat radius, and immobile water saturation in porous media. Based on an analysis of forces upon liquid lamella, a mathematical model of foam migration and regeneration at steady state was established according to the mass conservation law and the momentum conservation law in porous media. The model could be used to calculate some important parameters in porous media, such as pressure distribution, shearing stress, lamella morphology, liquid-layer thickness, regeneration bubble size, etc. A series of flow experiments were carried out to investigate the influence of liquid properties and pore-throat structure on flow characteristics and resistance behavior of foams in porous media. The experimental results showed that pressure distribution monotonously decreased along porous media. The theoretical results were in good agreement with the experimental results. Foam structure, that is, foam quality was an important factor upon foam resistance behavior in porous media. The strongest resistance ability of foams was achieved at foam quality of 85% in porous media.      

Rigid polyurethane foams reinforced with disilanolisobutyl POSS: Synthesis and properties

This work reports the synthesis of rigid polyurethane (PU) foams modified by disilanolisobutyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (DSIPOSS). This open‐cage nanostructure silsesquioxane has 2 hydroxyl groups and therefore can be chemically built directly in the PU backbone to form hybrid polyurethane‐POSS foam. Synthesis procedure using polymeric 4,4′‐diphenylmethane diisocyanate, polyetherol, and DSIPOSS has been elaborated, and the influence of POSS on the cell structure, closed cell content, apparent density, thermal conductivity, and compression strength of the rigid polyurethane composites has been evaluated. The hybrid composite foams containing 1.5 and 2.0 wt% DSIPOSS showed a reduced number of cells and an increased average area of foam cells in comparison with the unmodified PU, while the addition of 0.5wt% of DSIPOSS causes an increase in the number of cells of the foam as compared with the reference and thus a reduction in the average area of cells. X‐ray microtomography provided data on the porous structure of polyurethane hybrid materials, including reduction of the pore surface area. Scanning electron microscopy and energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy analysis revealed a good homogenization of DSIPOSS in polyurethane matrix. Thermogravimetric analysis results have shown that incorporation of POSS nanoparticles into PU foam does not significantly change the degradation process. The compressive strength of PUF‐POSS hybrids in the direction parallel and perpendicular to the direction of foam rise is greater than the strength of the reference foam already for the lowest DSIPOSS content.     

Efficiency of porous hydrophilic polymer-based packing materials in chromatographic analysis of drugs existing with polypeptide

Summary A size monodispersed restricted-access polymeric packing material has been prepared through a simple and easy one-step method of co-polymerization of glycerol monomethacrylate and glycerol dimethacrylate with cyclohexanol as prorogen. A typical seeded polymerization (two step swelling and polymerization method) in an aqueous medium gave a 90 % yield of porous beads which could be utilized as a packing material in high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) without any size classification due to the excellent size monodispersity. A BET measurement and size exclusion chromatography in either tetrahydrofuran or water revealed that the prepared material had only small pores (around 100 Å in diameter). It showed ample hydrophobicity for the separation of hydrophilic drug molecules in 10% aqueous acetonitrile buffer, while polypeptides such as bovine serum albumin were excluded and eluted before the void volume of the column with quantitative recovery.     

Effect of a linear polymer on crosslinking heterophase copolymerization of maleic anhydride, styrene, and divinylbenzene

A polymeric porogene has been shown to promote the formation of a developed porous structure in network maleic anhydride-styrene-divinylbenzene copolymers synthesized through crosslinking free-radical alternating copolymerization in the presence of a solvating solvent (dioxane).     

水溶性甲壳素及其膜的制备与表征

通过对高脱乙酰度壳聚糖进行均相乙酰化反应，制得脱乙酰度为51．7％的水溶性甲壳素，产物有很好的水溶性．通过红外光谱、X-射线衍射、差热分析等测试表征了水溶性甲壳素结构．结果表明，水溶性甲壳素的结构发生了较大变化，结晶性显著下降是导致水溶性增加的主要原因．     

Computational study of a latent heat thermal energy storage system enhanced by highly conductive metal foams and heat pipes

Numerical simulations are performed to analyze the thermal characteristics of a latent heat thermal energy storage system with phase change material embedded in highly conductive porous media. A network of finned heat pipes is also employed to enhance the heat transfer within the system. ANSYS-FLUENT 19.0 is used to create a transient multiphase computational model to simulate the thermal behavior of the storage unit. Copper foam is the porous medium used to enhance the heat transfer and is impregnated with the phase change material, potassium nitrate (KNO₃). The effects of the porosity of the metal foam and the quantity of heat pipes on the thermal characteristics of storage unit have been investigated. The results indicated that increasing the quantity of the embedded heat pipes leads to drastic acceleration of both charging and discharging process. Impregnating the copper foam with potassium nitrate phase change material significantly affects the total charging and discharging times of the storage unit. It was shown that the porosity of the metal foam plays a key role in the thermal behavior of the system during the charging and discharging processes.

     

Mechanism of water transport in controlled porosity osmotic devices

Controlled drug delivery devices that release the drug from an osmotic core by a pumping mechanism are promising for the oral administration of water-soluble drugs. This study considers various possible paths for the transport of water through a porous cellulose acetate membrane which constitutes the outer wall of a particular osmotic device. It is shown that the mechanism of water transport is not solely by diffusion through the semipermeable cellulose acetate or water-filled voids: solute-excluding water-filled regions in the coat as well as the polymeric portion of the coat are important in water ingress into the osmotic pump.     

聚合物纳米药物载体的研究进展

近年来,大量研究结果表明纳米技术可显著提高传统药物的疾病治疗效果,并在生物医学领域引起了广泛关注.迄今,多种聚合物纳米体系已被研发并用于药物的靶向递送.随着纳米技术的不断发展,各类生物微环境响应的功能基团也被应用于构筑新型药物载体,以提高患病部位的药物富集及减少药物的毒副作用.聚合物纳米药物载体在癌症治疗、代谢类疾病治疗及抗菌等方面展现出巨大潜力.本文系统评述了聚合物纳米药物载体的最新研究进展及在生物医药方面的应用.     

Measurement of flexural modulus of polymeric foam with improved accuracy using moiré method

The flexural modulus of polymeric foams determined from three-point bending tests is usually inaccurate due to the local deformation undergone by the material during testing. The machine used in the test gives deflection values larger than the actual deflection of the foam specimen due to the deformation of the material at the loading point. This leads to errors in the computation of the modulus value. In this work, the deflection values of a beam made of polymeric foam in a three-point bending test were determined using the moiré method. The change in the moiré pattern at the neutral axis of the foam during loading was recorded and converted into deflection values. The deflection data were used to generate the stress–strain curve from which the flexural modulus of the foam material was determined. The proposed method was verified using aluminum beams, where a high correlation between the deflection data from the machine readings and the moiré method was obtained. The flexural modulus of the foam determined using the moiré method was found to be within 3% of the value published in the material data sheet.     

Some Thermodynamic Data on Copper-Chitin and Copper-Chitosan Biopolymer Interactions

Chitin and chitosan are good removers of cations from aqueous solution and wastewater. The interactive effect of cation with both biopolymers in aqueous medium was studied by the batch method at 298 +/- 1 K. The results were fitted to the modified Langmuir equation. The same adsorption was followed by calorimetric titration. In this process, 50.0 mg of each polymer was suspended in 19.0 cm3 of bidistilled water at 298.15 +/- 0.02 K, maintained under mechanical turbine stirring. The titration was performed by adding increments of 10 μL of 0.10 mol dm-3 Cu(NO3)2 aqueous solution to the system. The resulting isotherm was also adjusted to a modified Langmuir equation. From the thermal effects K and DeltaH values were determined, enabling the calculation of DeltaG and DeltaS for the interaction of copper cations with chitin and chitosan, giving the enthalpic values of -19.85 +/- 0.34 and -41.27 +/- 1.57 kJ mol-1, respectively. The spontaneity of this interaction is shown from DeltaG values of -35.9 +/- 0.1 and -36.8 +/- 0.1 kJ mol-1, which are followed by DeltaS values of +54 and of -15 J mol-1 K-1, respectively. The complexation is probably associated with the lack of order of the chitin polymeric chain or with the freedom of water molecules initially bonded to cations. The copper ion is coordinated to the pendant groups of the polymeric chain to form stable complexes. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.     

Combustion kinetics of two core materials for sandwich structures

The thermal behavior of a polymeric foam (Divinycell H100) and balsa wood (ProBalsa LD7), which are extensively applied as core materials for sandwich panels, is investigated. Chars, produced from pyrolysis of thick samples at 950 K, reflect significant shrinkage of the sample and, for the polymeric foam, the complete loss of the cellular structure following softening. Thermogravimetric curves, measured in air at different heating rates, show that combustion takes place over a temperature range of 650–940 K (polymeric foam) and 475–740 K (balsa). The curves are well predicted by a four-step and a six-step reaction model, respectively, with kinetic parameters that are invariant with the heating rate.     

In-situ cryo-SEM investigation of porous structure formation of chitosan sponges

Aiming at better understanding of porous structure formation unique in-situ experiments on freeze-drying the chitosan-based solvents were carried out by cryo-SEM method. It allowed us to visualize the lyophilization process and to follow the formation of the porous structure in the chitosan sponge. It was clearly shown that the chitosan solutions just after freezing possess an evident microstructure consisting of the walls of the future pores and of the frozen solvent filling the space between them. The diameter of the pores and their wall thickness are controlled be pre-freezing temperature. An incorporation of nanofillers (chitin nanofibrils and montmorillonite) into the chitosan solution did not affect the pore size and wall thickness. However, they can promote the formation of the layered structure of the pore walls.