Morphological, structural and rheological properties of beta-cyclodextrin based polypseudorotaxane gels

Supramolecular self-assembled gels of polypseudorotaxane (PPR) were made through sequential inclusion complexations between beta-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and reverse Pluronic^® (RPL, or PPG-PEG-PPG). This study aimed to disclose the differences in morphological, structural and rheological properties of the PPR gels made in citric acid and other conditions. β-CD/RPL mixture in citric acid solution incubated at 25 °C (β-CD/RPL-C-25) had the most homogeneous, fine and continuous structure, the lowest crystallite size, and the highest gel strength and thixotropy. It was hypothesized that the citric acid partially interfered with the crystal growth of PPR, and thus led to high degree of crosslinking which explained its largest gel strength and thixotropy. β-CD/RPL mixtures in water incubated at 65 °C (β-CD/RPL-W-65) underwent PPR rearrangement, resulting in larger crystallites and a more integrate net-like structure, therefore yielding higher gel strength as compared with β-CD/RPL mixture in water incubated at 25 °C.     

Horizontal slug flow pneumatic conveying: Numerical simulation and analysis of a thin slice approximation

Slug flow horizontal pneumatic conveying of granular materials is a complex phenomenon, involving many interacting properties. Investigating internal properties such as bulk density and bulk material stress, particularly via experiment, is limited by practical considerations. A combined 3D DEM + 2D CFD algorithm is introduced as a complementary means of investigating such properties. Important aspects of the simulation work include the extraction of bulk density, bulk material stress, stress transmission ratio and boundary stress data as functions of time and position in one and two dimensions. Such data is presented and analysed in the context of existing assumptions and a resulting one-dimensional model for bulk material stress within a slug.     

Sorption characterization of poly(vinyl alcohol)/chitosan interpenetrating polymer network hydrogels

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/chitosan interpenetrating polymer networks (IPN) were prepared by UV irradiation. The water sorption behavior of the IPNs was measured at various temperatures and humidity levels. The water uptake of IPN13 is greater than that of other IPNs. Vapor sorption behavior is more affected by the density of water vapor than by hydrophilic properties with increasing temperature. Equilibrium water uptake increases as humidity increases, and the increase is more noticeable at high humidity. The sorption system of all IPNs is a relaxation‐controlled mechanism at a relative humidity (RH) of 90%, but it is a Fickian diffusion‐controlled mechanism when the RH is below 50%. With an increase in humidity, the diffusion coefficients were found to increase due to greater penetration of water into the IPNs. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 86–90, 2003     

Dual lower critical solution temperature polymer networks based on block,laminate, and interpenetrating network structures composed of N‐alkylacrylamides and N,N‐dialkylaminoethyl methacrylates

Novel materials that display two lower critical solution temperatures (LCSTs) were developed by forming block copolymers, laminate structures, and interpenetrating networks of crosslinked polymer systems that displayed temperature sensitivity independently. A number of LCST polymers and copolymers were investigated, including those based on N‐isopropylacrylamide, N,N‐diethylacrylamide, N,N‐diethylaminoethyl methacrylate, and N,N‐dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate. The polymer structure was found to profoundly influence the thermal sensitivity, as polymer formulation techniques led to materials with varying degrees of temperature sensitivity. Random and block copolymerization, along with interpenetrating networks and laminate systems, were studied, with only the structures having the greatest physical separation between pendent chains of different types having the ability to separate temperature transitions. Experiments were conducted to characterize the equilibrium swelling behavior and thermal transitions in the polymer systems. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 88: 2974–2981, 2003     

Network characterization and swelling behavior of chemical hydrogels based on acid‐containing poly(vinyl alcohol)

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) was modified with phthalic and succinic anhydrides to give vinyl alcohol–vinyl ester copolymers that contain carboxylate groups. These half‐esters were then crosslinked by using the poly‐ (ethylene glycol) (PEG) 400 diglycidylether. Low crosslinker/carboxylate ratios were used to obtain low degrees of crosslinking, so the capacity of the resulting hydrogel to absorb water was high. Water absorption was determined gravimetrically as a function of time at room temperature. The equilibrium swelling ratio and compressive modulus were characterized for all the resulting PVA hydrogels and related to the network structure. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 88: 3026–3031, 2003     

Study of poly(acrylamide‐co‐2‐acrylamido‐2‐methylpropane sulfonic acid) hydrogels made using gamma radiation initiation

Poly(acrylamide‐co‐2‐acrylamido‐2‐methylpropane sulfonic acid) hydrogels were synthesized using gamma‐radiation‐initiated polymerization. The progress of copolymerization and crosslinking was observed by viscosity measurement on reaction mixtures subjected to varying radiation doses. The copolymer gels were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. The swelling behavior and other properties of the gels were found to be very similar to those of poly(acrylamide‐co‐2‐acrylamido‐2‐methylpropane sulfonic acid) hydrogels synthesized using conventional free‐radical initiation in the presence of crosslinkers. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 1322–1330, 2003     

Synthesis and properties of thermosensitive, crown ether incorporated poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogel

A crown ether derivative (4′-allyldibenzo-18-crown-6, CE) was covalently incorporated into the network of temperature sensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPA) hydrogels by copolymerization in a mixed solvent of water and tetrahydrofuran (H₂O/THF). The poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-4′-allyldibenzo-18-crown-6) (poly(NIPA-co-CE)) hydrogels exhibited dramatically faster deswelling rates than normal PNIPA hydrogels at a temperature (50 °C) above their lower critical solution temperatures. The effect of the solvent component ratio in the mixed solvent during the copolymerization on the swelling properties of the poly(NIPA-co-CE) hydrogel was investigated. The thermosensitive poly(NIPA-co-CE) hydrogels have potential applications in the extraction of cations and separation of chiral drugs.     

Microstructure evolution and soft magnetic property optimization of core-shell FeSiBCCr@SiO2&ZrO2 amorphous magnetic powder cores

In this study, core-shell structured FeSiBCCr@SiO2&ZrO2 amorphous magnetic powder cores (AMPCs) were successfully prepared by the sol-gel method using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and zirconium oxychloride hydrate (ZrOCl2·8H2O) as raw materials. The growth mechanism and potential chemical reactions of the SiO2&ZrO2 mixed insulation layer were analyzed by XRD, XPS and SEM?EDS. In addition, the effect of the insulation layer content on the soft magnetic properties of FeSiBCCr@SiO2&ZrO2 AMPCs was systematically investigated. The SiO2&ZrO2 insulation layer can significantly increase the resistivity, effectively improve the DC bias performance and reduce the core loss of AMPCs. S2* (1.2 mL TEOS and 1.4 g ZrOCl2·8H2O) had a minimum core loss of 2290 mW/cm3 at high frequency (50 mT, 1 MHz). It had a high effective permeability of 48.2 and a superior direct current (DC) bias performance of 77.9% at 8 kA/m. This study provides a valid method to practically produce SMPCs with high resistivity, low core loss at high frequency and excellent DC bias performance through a novel insulation coating process.     

The surrogate scaffold method for quantifying molecular release kinetics from drug delivery systems

The accurate determination of kinetics of therapeutic release from drug delivery vehicles is an essential step in the optimized design of such systems for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. Most methods in current use for quantifying therapeutic release rates are developed to provide consistency, reproducibility, and ease of usage in a laboratory setting. These methods, however, do not necessarily mirror the release conditions when the drug delivery system comes into contact with the target tissue environment during application. As a result, the findings from these studies provide only comparative guidelines about the drug delivery rates and duration. Successful optimization of a drug delivery system requires complete, and accurate, knowledge about the release profile over an extended period of time to determine the initial release rate—including burst release if present, the rate of change of the release kinetics, and the maximum duration of delivery at a minimum therapeutic concentration level. We have developed an indirect method for the quantification of release kinetics suitable for nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems that utilizes a hydrogel scaffold as a tissue surrogate to better emulate therapeutic delivery into a target tissue environment. Details of the method and its application to the release of an angiogenic peptide from a nanoparticle emulsion are provided in this communication.     

Lateral compression and energy absorption of foamed concrete-filled polyethylene circular pipe as yielding layer for high geo-stress soft rock tunnelsOA

Foamed concrete as energy absorption material for high geo-stress soft rock tunnels has been proven to be feasible due to its high compressibility and lightweight. However, the lengthy curing and defoaming problems caused by the cast-in-place method of large-volume foamed concrete remain unsolved. In this study, we propose a novel energy absorber composed of foamed concrete-filled polyethylene(FC-PE) pipe and analyze its deformation and energy absorption capacity via quasi-static lateral compres...