Fabrication and characterization of a novel wound scaffold based on polyurethane added with Channa striatus for wound dressing applications

Abstract

Wound healing is a complex process and it involves restoration of damaged skin tissues. Several wound dressings comprising naturally made substances are constantly investigated to assist wound healing. In this research, a new wound dressing based on polyurethane (PU) supplemented with essence of Channa striatus (CS) fish oil was made by electrospinning. Morphological study depicted the reduction in fiber diameter than PU with the addition of fish oil (0.552?±?0.109?μm for 8:1 v/v% and 0.519?±?0.196?μm 7:2 v/v%) than the pristine PU (0.971?±?0.205?µm). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis revealed the presence of fish oil in the composite as identified through increasing peak intensity. Fish oil resulted in the hydrophilic behavior (88?±?3 (8:1 v/v) and 70?±?6 (7:2 v/v)) as revealed in the contact angle analysis. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) showed the superior thermal behavior of the wound dressing patch compared to the PU. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis insinuated a decrease in the surface roughness of the pristine polyurethane with the added fish oil. Coagulation assays signified the delay in the blood clotting time portraying its anti-thrombogenic behavior. Hemolytic assay revealed the less toxic nature of the developed nanocomposites with the red blood cells (RBC’s) depicting its safety with blood. Hence, polyurethane nanofibers supplemented with fish oil made them as deserving candidates for wound dressing application.     

Melting Point and Composition Distribution of Polyolefins by Fractionation

The fractionation technique described in this paper was used to characterize the melting-point, monomer, and blocking distributions for polymers and copolymers. It is different from the molecular-weight fractionation technique in that the fractions are obtained by using a single solvent to extract the solid polymer below its melting point at stepwise-increasing temperatures. The reproducibility of this technique is excellent, and the technique is sufficient to distinguish pellet-to-pellet variation in a commercially available polypropylene. It was used to show the influence of preparation variables on the melting-point distributions of polyethylene and polypropylene and on the monomer and blocking distribution of copolymers, and to distinguish copolymers from blends.     

泡沫塑料吸附—石墨炉原子吸收光谱法测定地质物料中痕量铊

本文研制定了一种泡沫塑料吸附－石墨炉原子吸收光谱法测定地质物料中痕量铊的分析，在所先定的实验条件下，方法检出限为０．０５μｇ／ｇ、样准曲线范围为１０－３００ｎｇ／ｍＬ，Ｔｌ含量水平为０．７１μｇ／ｇ时的测定精度为６．０％，方法回收率９９．０％－１００．０％。经标样及大量样品分析验证，分析方法准确可靠。     

Natural and artificial weathering characteristics of stabilized acrylic–urethane paints

Depth-profiling by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), microhardness and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations have been used to monitor degradation chemistries in two-package acrylic–urethane coatings when exposed to different exposure conditions. Three artificial and three natural weathering protocols (QUV, ASTM D5894, ISO20340, Pipady (south of France), Bandol (south of France) and Kure Beach (USA)) were selected for this study. The same chemical events were found to occur under all conditions, particularly under natural and artificial exposures. Both loss of the amide II band at 1520 cm⁻¹ and carbonyl growth occurred but at relatively low rate owing to the presence of hindered-amine light stabilizers in the film. A less typical loss of urea biuret linkages also occurs during all exposures and results in a change in the balance between urethane and urea links across the depth of the film during weathering. The chemical degradation of the polymer matrix involves the formation of species that are readily ablated from the surface and results in loss of gloss, increase in hardness and a rougher topology. The dramatic loss of gloss observed after Pipady and Bandol exposures show that loss of gloss should not be systematically correlated to the advance in chemical degradation.     

Preparation and characterization of sulfonated polyimide ionomers via post‐sulfonation method for fuel cell applications

This paper describes our work on the synthesis of a series of sulfonated homo‐/co‐polyimides (SPI) which were obtained by post‐sulfonation method over three steps. In the first step, 4,4′‐oxydianiline (ODA) and 4,4′‐diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS) dissolved in N‐methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) were reacted with benzophenonetetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA) in order to yield poly(amic acid) (PAA). Secondly, precipitated PAA was sulfonated via concentrated sulfuric acid (95–98%) at room temperature to give post‐sulfonated PAA (PSPAA). Finally, PSPAA was converted into post‐sulfonated PI (PSPI) by the thermal imidization method. PSPIs with ion exchange capacity (IEC) ranging from 0.20 to 0.67 meq/g were prepared. The thermal properties of the PSPIs were evaluated and high desulfonation temperature was found in the range of 190–350°C, suggesting the high stability of sulfonic acid groups. In water, PSPI‐5 membrane displayed similar proton conductivity to Nafion®117, whereas this membrane showed poor conductivity in dry state. All PSPIs displayed good solubility in common polar aprotic solvents such as NMP and dimethylacetamide (DMAc). Furthermore, the effects of post‐sulfonation reaction on chemical structure, thermal oxidative behavior, and physical properties of the PSPI membranes such as membrane quality/stability and water uptake were discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Monitoring of oil-based polyurethane synthesis by FTIR-ATR

Oil-based polyurethanes were synthesized from triglyceride oil-based hydroxyl containing material and toluene diisocyanate or hexamethylene diisocyanate for wound dressing applications. The reactions were carried out with or without catalyst at 90 °C. The amount of free isocyanate during the reaction was determined by a FTIR-ATR method, and the results were compared with those from a back-titration method. The data obtained were used for determination of kinetic parameters.     

Synthesis, characterization and properties of novel thermally stable poly(urethane-oxazolidone) elastomers

Oxazolidone-incorporated polyurethane elastomers based on hydroxyl terminated polycaprolactone, were synthesized and characterized. Reaction of epoxy-terminated polyurethane with isocyanate librated from a blocked polyisocyanate was the strategy followed. The reaction condition was optimized through preparation of model oxazolidones. Epoxy-terminated polyurethanes were prepared from reaction of glycidol with NCO-terminated polyurethane prepolymers and curing agent was synthesized from the reaction of trimethylol propane, toluene diisocyanate and N-methyl-aniline. Incorporation of heterocyclic oxazolidone groups into the polyurethane backbone caused improvements in thermal and mechanical properties. Investigation of structure-property relationship for prepared elastomers showed that the main determining factors for observed properties were crosslink density, crystallinity and content of oxazolidone rings.     

Crack growth in medical-grade silicone and polyurethane ether elastomers

One major problem with ball and socket artificial discs is the migration of wear particles to the surrounding tissues. This debris can cause inflammation that can lead to implant loosening. Encapsulating the artificial disc with an elastomer sheath could prevent this problem by retaining the wear particles within the disc. The encapsulation sheath will face millions of tensile cycles during the implant life and, therefore, it must have the ability to withstand large strains without fracture. Using cyclic displacement, crack nucleation was applied on dumbbell specimens and crack growth was applied on rectangular specimens with an initial crack. Both tests were performed on Silex silicone and polyurethane ether elastomer specimens, both with a Shore durometer hardness of 40 shore A. No samples completely failed during the crack nucleation tests after five million cycles. The polyurethane ether elastomer showed a slower rate of crack growth life (421 k cycles to reach 70 mm crack length) than silicone elastomer (221 k cycles to reach the same crack length) in the control group. Accelerated ageing decreased the hardness and the crack growth rate of the polyurethane elastomer but had the opposite effect for the silicone elastomer. Gamma sterilization increased the crack growth rate and did not affect the hardness of the polyurethane elastomer. The hardness and the crack growth rate of the silicone elastomer were increased after gamma sterilization.     

Functionalizing nano-montmorillonites by modified with intumescent flame retardant: Preparation and application in polyurethane

The 2-(2-(5,5-dimethyl-1,3,2-dioxaphosphinyl-2-ylamino)ethy-amino)-N,N,N-triethyl-2-oxoethanaminium chloride (compound c) containing phosphorus-nitrogen structure was synthesized and characterized. A novel intumescent flame retardant, namely montmorillonite (MMT) by modified with compound c (c-MMT), was prepared by ion exchanging of the nanometer Na⁺-montmorillonite (Na-MMT) with compound c. Both FTIR and X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicated that compound c had intercalated with Na-MMT and exfoliated c-MMT/PU nanocomposites have obtained by in-situ polymerization. TEM results further support the formation of the exfoliated nanocomposites. The thermal stability and flammability of c-MMT/PU composites were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and cone calorimeter test respectively. The results showed that the addition of flame retardant c-MMT enhanced the thermal stability and flame retardancy of PU significantly. SEM results indicated that c-MMT can achieve better dispersion in the chars after combustion and the compact and dense intumescent char is formed for c-MMT/PU composites after combustion. It is found that the char structure plays an important role for c-MMT in PU resin. The thermal stability and flame retardancy of PU resin were also significantly improved by an addition of c-MMT in PU resin.     

Dependence of fungal biodegradation of PEG/castor oil-based polyurethane elastomers on the hard-segment structure

In the context of protecting of the environment, this work studies the biodegradation of PEG-based polyurethane elastomer films in the presence of the soft rot fungus Chaetomium globosum, determined via the Petri-dish test. Using PEG with high-molecular weight (MW = 1500) as a chain extender led to polyurethane elastomers with lower physical crosslink density and higher swelling rates. The structural modifications in the hard-segment area (CO and N-H peaks) are considerable and were analyzed by FTIR spectroscopy. Biodegradation lowers the final mechanical properties, but increases yield points, especially in the case of polyurethane elastomers crosslinked with castor oil. Polyurethane elastomer samples showed visible degradation proved by the mechanical weakening of the films. Thus, breaking strains decrease from 670-1180% to 500-680% and tensile strengths decreased from 11.5-27.5 MPa to 4-11.5 MPa after 130 days of fungal biodegradation. The changes in the morphology of the polyurethane films surface were analyzed by SEM and have been found to exhibit increasing porous structure and fungal hyphae. The effects of the hard-segment composition of the polyurethane elastomers on the fungal biodegradation behaviour were investigated.