Preparation and evaluation of cellulose acetate butyrate and poly(ethylene oxide) blend microspheres for gastroretentive floating delivery of repaglinide

In this study, hollow microspheres of cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) were prepared by emulsion–solvent evaporation method. Repaglinide was successfully encapsulated into floating microspheres. Various formulations were prepared by varying the ratio of CAB and PEO, drug loading and concentration of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) solution. Encapsulation of the drug up to 95% was achieved. The microspheres tend to float over the simulated gastric media for more than 10 h. The micromeritic properties of microspheres reveal the excellent flow and good packing properties. The % buoyancy of microspheres was found to be up to 87. SEM showed that microspheres have many pores on their surfaces. Particle size ranges from 159 to 601 μm. DSC and X‐RD revealed the amorphous dispersion in the polymer matrix. In vitro release experiments were performed in simulated gastric fluid. In vitro release studies indicated the dependence of release rate on the extent of drug loading and the amount of PEO in the microspheres; slow release was extended up to 12 h. The release data were fitted to an empirical equation to compute the diffusional exponent (n), which indicated that the release mechanism followed the non‐Fickian trend. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007     

Exploring the thermomechanical properties of peroxide/co-agent assisted thermoplastic vulcanizates through temperature scanning stress relaxation measurements

Temperature scanning stress relaxation (TSSR) measurement of peroxide vulcanized polymer blends of polypropylene (PP) and ultrahigh molecular-EPDM (UHM-EPDM) rubber has been performed to study the thermomechanical behavior of thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs). Co-agents play crucial roles in the enhancement of properties of TPVs. Different types of co-agents (Triallyl cyanurate-TAC; N, N-m-phenylene-dimaleimide-HVA2; zinc dimethacrylate-ZDMA; and in-situ formed zinc dimethacrylate-ZMA) have been explored in this work. TSSR study shows that higher T₅₀ and T₉₀ values have been achieved in ZMA co-agent assisted-TPV. Higher TSSR-index (RI) value was also found for the same co-agent ZMA, indicating higher elastic behavior. TSSR result supports the mechanical and rheological properties, and it is found that the ZMA and ZDMA show higher mechanical strength. Cross-linked-density calculated by modified Flory–Rehner equation and the cross-link-density as obtained from TSSR method have been compared and the trend was found to be the same. Stress relaxation study shows the slow relaxation-phenomena of the ZMA-TPV with slowest relaxation-time (θ_r) than the other TPVs, which correlates with superior material strength. Thermogravimetric analysis proves that there is a difference in degradation temperature of the blends at approximately 5–10°C. Ultrahigh molecular weight-EPDM/PP based TPVs reveal superior thermomechanical and physico-mechanical properties with ZMA and ZDMA co-agent over TAC and HVA2. These ultrahigh molecular weight-EPDM based TPVs can be used in automotive seals/strips, hoses, bellows, and 2 K-molds for automotive applications.     

Polyurethane coatings prepared from CNSL based polyols: Synthesis,characterization and properties

Conventional polyurethane chemistry based on polyol and isocyanate chemistry is widely used for many applications ranging from plastics to coatings, constructions, pharmaceuticals, foods, etc. The growing concern over depletion of petrochemical materials and their rising prices has led to search for environment friendly renewable materials. Cardanol derived from cashew nut shell liquid is one such renewable material which has reactive phenolic group and aliphatic double bond that could be tailor-made to produce novel functional materials for polymer and coating applications. This has previously been used for preparation of phenolics, epoxy resins and phenalkamine hardners. Diglycidyl ether of cardanol which is commercially available, is used as epoxy resin or modifier in epoxy formulations. In the present work, this was modified by simple one step ring opening reaction to produce polyols with different number of functionalities. The various polyols prepared were cured with polyisocyanate cross-linkers and applied on metallic substrates. The cured coatings were evaluated for physical, mechanical, chemical and thermal properties. The study conducted showed that the prepared polyols could be used as sole binder for coating formulation with overall excellent properties.     

Preparation of novel CNSL‐based urethane polyol via nonisocyanate route: Curing with melamine‐formaldehyde resin and structure–property relationship

In this study, we report preparation of a novel cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL)‐based polyol bearing urethane groups. The urethane group in the polyol was induced via isocyanate free route from the reaction of cyclic carbonate with primary amine. The polyol was characterized by determination of hydroxyl number, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and so forth. The polyol was then used as coating component and cured with hexamethoxy methylene melamine (HMMM). Another CNSL‐based polyol without urethane moiety from our earlier reported work was used for preparation of coating for comparative study to determine the effect of urethane group on the coating properties. The coating formulations based on these two polyols were cured with variable amounts of HMMM hardener to optimize coating properties. All the coatings were evaluated for mechanical properties such as adhesion, flexibility, pencil and scratch hardness, impact resistance, pull‐off, and adhesion. The optimized coatings were also evaluated for chemical and thermal properties. It was observed that the urethane containing polyol resulted in better adhesion to the metal substrate at higher quantity of HMMM hardener compared to the other polyol providing significant improvement in various coating properties. The final coating properties were also compared with the acrylic polyurethane coatings. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41391.     

Dielectric constant measurement of low loss liquids using stacked multi ring resonator

The concept of dielectric constant measurement has been extended and applied in agriculture, pharmaceutical and food industry for quality control of liquids. Dielectric analysis of material at microwave frequencies can be done using novel shielded stacked multi-ring resonator (SMRR). The dielectric constant of liquids and paste has been calculated using SMRR with greater accuracy than the planar resonator, boxed resonator and stacked resonator. SMRR contains a ring resonator with fed patch and parasitic patch with different numbers and sizes of rings. The dimensions of rings on the parasitic patch are optimized to achieve Quality factor Q greater than 100 and return loss less than ?2 dB. Due to dual resonance in novel SMRR, structure losses are reduced by 50% than planar resonator structure. The behavior of SMRR structure at the 2.45 GHz frequency is studied with E field and H field. 3D model is designed in Computer Simulation Technology Microwave Studio (CST MWS) using TLM (Transmission Line Modeling) solver. Electromagnetic field analysis as well as impedance bandwidth of SMRR using CST MWS 3D model prove that electromagnetic coupling in SMRR structure increases thus improves quality factor. In SMRR quality factor increases and losses reduce help us to predict the complex permittivity of material for quality analysis.