Facile fabrication of elongated polymer micro/nano discs and their surface adhesiveness

The key factor of polymer particles using as a drug carrier is the ability to adhere to the surface of the target sites in order to optimize the drug delivery efficiency. To this end, shape of the particles is one of the essential parameters since nonspherical particles such as discs theoretically have more contact surface area than spherical particles. We herein propose a facile method to fabricate elongated polymer micro/nano discs by combining phase separation and a roll-to-roll coating process with a stretching method. By roll-to-roll coating, biodegradable poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) discs formed on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) film can be instantly stretched by uniaxial stretcher. The effect of stretching temperature and percentage of film elongation on the particle morphology was studied. The results showed that the PLGA discs can be elongated and the aspect ratio of 2.3 can be achieved with 600% elongation at 80°C, reflecting the increase of estimated contact surface area by 1.8 times. The adhesion efficiency of these elongated discs was compared with discs before stretching, spheres, and elongated spheres by using the water-dropping test. The elongated discs showed the best result among these particles and their adhesion efficiency are strongly related to estimated contact surface area.     

Effect of citric acid,PVOH, and starch ratio on the properties of cross-linked poly(vinyl alcohol)/starch adhesives

The properties of tapioca starch adhesives were improved by cross-linking and the cross-linked adhesive compared with pure tapioca starch and poly(vinyl alcohol) adhesives. The effect of starch ratio, type of PVOH, and adding citric acid were important factors on the cross-linked adhesives. Wood adhesives made from cross-linked PVOH/starch were prepared by PVOH and tapioca starch, using hexamethoxymethyl melamine (HMMM) and citric acid (CA) as a cross-linking agent and catalyst, respectively. The effect of CA, PVOH/starch ratio, and type of PVOH such as medium (M PVOH) and high molecular weight (H PVOH) were investigated. The condition of the cross-linking reaction was 175?°C for 15?min. The structural properties of cross-linked adhesive were investigated by FT-IR spectroscopy. The results were confirmed in terms of thermal properties with a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and the shear strength of the adhesive. The cross-linked adhesive resulted in the increase of T _g and showed good blend compatibility with all of the cross-linked adhesives. The adhesive strength significantly increased when using CA as a catalyst in the cross-linking reaction. The optimum contents of the cross-linked PVOH/starch adhesives were 1:1.8 for M PVOH and 1:0.5 for H PVOH.     

Biodegradation potential of some barrier‐coated boards in different soil environments

Three pilot barrier‐coated boards that were recently produced at the Tampere University of Technology were tested for biodegradation potential using the soil‐burial test method. The tests were conducted in the field as well as in the laboratory. We found that the baseboards degraded regardless of differences in coating; however, the degradation rate was different. The laboratory conditions as well as the addition of inoculum accelerated the degradation process. The coated layer of the boards was isolated by laminating with black polyethylene; then their biodegradation rate was compared to the biodegradation rate of the control, boards coated with low‐density polyethylene. It was observed that paperboards coated with polyester‐based polymers were biodegradable but at different rates. The differences in the biodegradation rates of the boards were attributed to their coating formulations. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 3193–3202, 2006