Introduction: Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is the most distressing complication of diabetes mellitus and often associated with risk of non-traumatic lower extremity amputations. Available formulations and wound dressings for DFU treatment are unfortunately less effective both on controlling and healing DFU. Issues commonly found are associated with providing an optimum environment which facilitates healing process; moist environment, effective oxygen exchange, preventing infection, controlling exudate and also patients compliance. The challenge is therefore to develop a novel drug delivery which address this unmet medical need for better wound treatment of chronic and slow healing DFU. This study aimed to develop a biomaterial based nanofibrous wound dressing formulation containing deferoxamine (DFO), which reported as a potential therapeutic approach to improve wound healing. Deferoxamine regulates the expression and increase stability of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1 α), growthfactor that crucial in wound repair, and thus increase neovascularization. Preparation and characterization of chosen polymers; chitosan/ alginate/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) for nanofiber formulation will be carried out. Such biodegradable polymer nanofiber is a great benefit for drug delivery owing to its high surface area to volume ratio and high porosity which creates ideal environment to aid in wound healing. Methods: Nanofibers loaded DFO will be fabricated by electrospinning
method that utilizes electrostatic force to produce fine fibers from the polymeric solution. Results: Various polymers concentrations and ratios are investigated to obtain the desired fibers characteristics. The selected optimized DFO nanofibers will be studied for its efficacy in wound healing through in-vivo animal studies. Conclusion: The proposed formulation would be an ideal low cost novel wound dressing with improved healing potential for efficient treatment
of diabetic foot ulcer.
Tissue engineering scaffolds with oxygen generating elements have shown to be able to increase the level of oxygen and cell survivability in specific conditions. In this study, biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) scaffolds with the composition of 60% hydroxyapatite (HA) and 40% beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP), which have shown a great potential for bone tissue engineering applications, were fabricated by a direct-write assembly (robocasting) technique. Then, the three-dimensional (3D)-printed scaffolds were coated with different ratios of an oxygen releasing agent, calcium peroxide (CPO), which encapsulated within a polycaprolactone (PCL) matrix through dip-coating, and used for in situ production of oxygen in the implanted sites. The structure, composition and morphology of the prepared scaffolds were characterized by different techniques. The oxygen release kinetics and biological investigations of the scaffolds were also studied in vitro. The results showed that oxygen release behaviour was sustained and dependant on the concentration of CPO encapsulated in the PCL coating matrix. It was also demonstrated that the coated scaffolds, having 3% CPO in the coating system, could provide a great potential for promoting bone ingrowth with improving osteoblast cells viability and proliferation under hypoxic conditions. The findings indicated that the prepared scaffolds could play a significant role in engineering of large bone tissue implants with limitations in oxygen diffusion.
In the effort to find alternative low cost adsorbent for volatile organic vapors has prompted this research in assessing the effectiveness of activated carbon produced from durian shell in removing toluene vapors. Durian shells were impregnated with different concentrations of H3PO4 followed by carbonization at 500 °C for 20 min under nitrogen atmosphere. The prepared durian shell activated carbon (DSAC) was characterized for its physical and chemical properties. The removal efficiency of toluene by DSAC was performed using different toluene concentrations. Results showed that the highest BET surface area of the produced DSAC was 1404 m2/g. Highest removal efficiency of toluene vapors was achieved by using DSAC impregnated with 30% of acid concentration heated at 500 °C for 20 min heating duration. However, there is insignificant difference between removal efficiency of toluene by DSAC and different toluene concentrations. The toluene adsorption by DSAC was better fitted into Freundlich model.
A steady laminar mixed convection boundary layer flow about an isothermal solid sphere embedded in a porous medium filled with a nanofluid has been studied for both cases of assisting and opposing flows. The transformed boundary layer equations were solved numerically using an implicit finite-difference scheme. Three different types of nanoparticles, namely Cu, Al2O3 and TiO2 in water-based fluid were considered. Numerical solutions were obtained for the skin friction coefficient, the velocity and temperature profiles. The features of the flow and heat transfer characteristics for various values of the nanoparticle volume fraction and the mixed convection parameters were analyzed and discussed.
Ginger essential oils (GEO) are natural products with antibacteria properties consisting of many different volatile
compounds have high potential to be used in many applications. In this study, the ginger GEO was successfully
encapsulated in chitosan as a carrier agent using a spray drying technique. The extraction of Zingiber officinale
(ginger) essential oil is performed by steam distillation method. The GEO was encapsulated in chitosan as a carrier
agents at 1:3, GEO:chitosan ratio by using spray drying technique. GEO together with encapsulated GEO were
further assayed for antimicrobial activity by disc-diffusion method. For characterization of encapsulated GEO,
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) were
used. FTIR analysis revealed that there was no existence of a new functional group in the encapsulated GEO
showing that there is only physical interaction between GEO and chitosan. Besides, FESEM analysis showed the
encapsulated GEO were in micro in sizes and possessed spherical shape with smooth and porous surface.
Furthermore, Both GEO and encapsulated GEO showed in vitro antimicrobial activity against Escheriachia coli,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhi with encapsulated GEO possessed higher in
the activities for all studied bacteria compared to GEO. The encapsulated GEO demonstrated a superior performance
against Salmonella typhi with the inhibition zone of 22.5 mm compared to GEO only 13.5 mm. The results obtained
indicated that due to the volatility and instability of the GEO when exposed to environmental factors, its encapsulation considerably improve and enhanced its performance.
The catalytic cracking of waste cooking palm oil to biofuel was studied over different types of nano-crystalline zeolite catalysts in a fixed bed reactor. The effect of reaction temperature (400-500 °C), catalyst-to-oil ratio (6-14) and catalyst pore size of different nanocrystalline zeolites (0.54-0.80 nm) were studied over the conversion of waste cooking palm oil, yields of Organic Liquid Product (OLP) and gasoline fraction in the OLP following central composite design (CCD). The response surface methodology was used to determine the optimum value of the operating variables for maximum conversion as well as maximum yield of OLP and gasoline fraction, respectively. The optimum reaction temperature of 458 °C with oil/catalyst ratio=6 over the nanocrystalline zeolite Y with pore size of 0.67 nm gave 86.4 wt% oil conversion, 46.5 wt% OLP yield and 33.5 wt% gasoline fraction yield, respectively. The experimental results were in agreement with the simulated values within an experimental error of less than 5%.
Adsorption isotherm and kinetics of methylene blue on activated carbon prepared from coconut husk were determined from batch tests. The effects of contact time (1-30 h), initial dye concentration (50-500 mg/l) and solution temperature (30-50 degrees C) were investigated. Equilibrium data were fitted to Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm models. The equilibrium data were best represented by Langmuir isotherm model, showing maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 434.78 mg/g. The kinetic data were fitted to pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and intraparticle diffusion models, and was found to follow closely the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Thermodynamic parameters such as standard enthalpy (DeltaH degrees), standard entropy (DeltaS degrees) and standard free energy (DeltaG degrees) were evaluated. The adsorption interaction was found to be exothermic in nature. Coconut husk-based activated carbon was shown to be a promising adsorbent for removal of methylene blue from aqueous solutions.
Functional polysaccharide was isolated from Momordica charantia, with a yield of 36% (w/w). M. charantia bioactive polysaccharide (MCBP) was an acidic and branched heteropolysaccharide with a molecular weight of 92 kDa. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic analysis indicated that MCBP was a pectin-like polysaccharide with an esterification degree of 53% and it contains numerous monosaccharides, predominantly glucose, galactose, and galaturonic acid. The results also showed that MCBP exhibited free radical scavenging activity (31.9%), ferric reducing antioxidant power (0.95 mM), α-amylase inhibition (89.1%), and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition (94.1%). In the terms of functionality, MCBP showed a lower water-holding capacity but higher in oil-holding capacity, emulsifying activity and foaming capacity compared to citrus pectin. Scanning electron microscopy images demonstrated that MCBP formed gels with a porous structure, and flow analysis showed that the gel solution exhibited pseudoplastic shear-thinning behavior. These findings indicated that MCBP is a promising functional macromolecular carbohydrate for the food and nutraceutical industries.
The sintering behaviour of synthesized HA powder that was calcined at various temperatures ranging from 700 degrees C to 1000 degrees C was investigated in terms of phase stability, bulk density, Young's modulus and Vickers hardness. The calcination treatment resulted in higher crystallinity of the starting HA powder. Decomposition of HA phase to form secondary phases was not observed in all the calcined powders. The results also indicated that powder calcination (up to 900 degrees C) prior to sintering has negligible effect on the sinterability of the HA compacts. However, powder calcined at 1000 degrees C was found to be detrimental to the properties of sintered hydroxyapatite bioceramics.
An optical aptasensor-based sensing platform for rapid insulin detection was fabricated. Aminated porous silica microparticles (PSiMPs) were synthesized via a facile mini-emulsion method to provide large surface area for covalent immobilization of insulin-binding DNA aptamer (IGA3) by glutaraldehyde cross-linking protocol. A Nickel-salphen type complex with piperidine side chain [Ni(II)-SP] was synthesized with a simple one-pot reaction, and functionalized as an optical label due to strong π-π interaction between aromatic carbons of G-quadruplex DNA aptamer and planar aromatic groups of Ni(II)-SP to form the immobilized IGA3-Ni(II)-SP complex, i.e. the dye-labeled aptamer, thereby bringing yellow colouration to the immobilized G-quartet plane. Optical characterization of aptasensor towards insulin binding was carried out with a fiber optic reflectance spectrophotometer. The maximum reflectance intensity of the immobilized IGA3-Ni(II)-SP complex at 656 nm decreased upon binding with insulin as aptasensor changed to brownish orange colouration in the background. This allows optical detection of insulin as the colour change of aptasensor is dependent on the insulin concentration. The linear detection range of the aptasensor is obtained from 10 to 50 μIU mL-1 (R2 = 0.9757), which conformed to the normal fasting insulin levels in human with a limit of detection (LOD) at 3.71 μIU mL-1. The aptasensor showed fast response time of 40 min and long shelf life stability of >3 weeks. Insulin detection using healthy human serums with informed consent provided by participants suggests the DNA aptamer biosensor was in good agreement with ELISA standard method using BIOMATIK Human INS (Insulin) ELISA Kit.
Constructing efficient structured materials for artificial photosynthesis of CO2 is a promising strategy to produce renewable fuels in addition of mitigating greenhouse effect. In this work, 2D porous g-C3N4 (PCN) coupled exfoliated 3D Ti3C2TA MXene (TiC) nanosheets with TiO2 NPs in-situ growth was constructed in a single step through HF treatment approach. The different exfoliated TiC structures were successfully synthesized for adjusting HF etching time (24 h, 48 h and 96 h). With growing etchant time from 24 to 96 h, the amount of TiO2 produced was increased, but it has adverse effects on CO and CH4 production rate. The maximum production rates for CO and CH4 of 317.4 and 78.55 µmol g-1 h-1 were attained when the 10TiC-48/PCN was employed than using TiC-24/PCN, TiC-96/PCN and PCN composite samples, respectively. The performance of 10TiC-48/PCN composite for CO and CH4 evolution were 9.9 and 6.7 folds higher than using pristine PCN sample, respectively. The possible mechanism is assigned to porous structure with intimate contact enabling efficient charge carrier separation with the role of TiO2 NPs to work as a bridge to transport electrons towards MXene surface. Among the reducing agents, water was favorable for CO evolution, whereas, methanol-water system promoted CH4 production. All these findings confirm that heterojunction formation facilitates charges separation and can be further used in solar energy relating application.
Artificial bone is a suitable alternative to autografts and allografts, however their use is still limited. Though there were numerous reports on their structural properties, permeability studies of artificial bones were comparably scarce. This study focused on the development of idealised, structured models of artificial cancellous bone and compared their permeability values with bone surface area and porosity. Cancellous bones from fresh bovine femur were extracted and cleaned following an established protocol. The samples were scanned using micro-computed tomography (μCT) and three-dimensional models of the cancellous bones were reconstructed for morphology study. Seven idealised and structured cancellous bone models were then developed and fabricated via rapid prototyping technique. A test-rig was developed and permeability tests were performed on the artificial and real cancellous bones. The results showed a linear correlation between the permeability and the porosity as well as the bone surface area. The plate-like idealised structure showed a similar value of permeability to the real cancellous bones.
In the development of artificial cancellous bones, two major factors need to be considered: the integrity of the overall structure and its permeability. Whilst there have been many studies analysing the mechanical properties of artificial and natural cancellous bones, permeability studies, especially those using numerical simulation, are scarce. In this study, idealised cancellous bones were simulated from the morphological indices of natural cancellous bone. Three different orientations were also simulated to compare the anisotropic nature of the structure. Computational fluid dynamics methods were used to analyse fluid flow through the cancellous structures. A constant mass flow rate was used to determine the intrinsic permeability of the virtual specimens. The results showed similar permeability of the prismatic plate-and-rod model to the natural cancellous bone. The tetrakaidecahedral rod model had the highest permeability under simulated blood flow conditions, but the plate counterpart had the lowest. Analyses on the anisotropy of the virtual specimens showed the highest permeability for the horizontal orientation. Linear relationships were found between permeability and the two physical properties, porosity and bone surface area.
Optimizing the production of microporous activated carbon from waste palm shell was done by applying experimental design methodology. The product, palm shell activated carbon was tested for removal of SO2 gas from flue gas. The activated carbon production was mathematically described as a function of parameters such as flow rate, activation time and activation temperature of carbonization. These parameters were modeled using response surface methodology. The experiments were carried out as a central composite design consisting of 32 experiments. Quadratic models were developed for surface area, total pore volume, and microporosity in term of micropore fraction. The models were used to obtain the optimum process condition for the production of microporous palm shell activated carbon useful for SO2 removal. The optimized palm shell activated carbon with surface area of 973 m(2)/g, total pore volume of 0.78 cc/g and micropore fraction of 70.5% showed an excellent agreement with the amount predicted by the statistical analysis. Palm shell activated carbon with higher surface area and microporosity fraction showed good adsorption affinity for SO2 removal.
Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) have attracted the attention of academia and industry because of their plastic-like properties and biodegradability. However, practical applications as a commodity material have not materialized because of their high production cost and unsatisfactory mechanical properties. PHAs are also believed to have high-value applications as an absorbable biomaterial for tissue engineering and drug-delivery devices because of their biocompatibility. However, research in these areas is still in its very early stages. The main problem faced by proponents of PHAs is the lack of a niche area where PHAs will be the most desired material in terms of its function during use rather than because of its eco-friendly virtues after use. Here, we report on the oil-absorbing property of PHA films and its potential applications. By comparing with some of the existing commercial products, the potential application of PHAs as cosmetic oil-blotting films is revealed for the first time. Besides having the ability to rapidly absorb and retain oil, PHA films also have a natural oil-indicator property, showing obvious changes in opacity following oil absorption. Surface analysis revealed that the surface structures such as porosity and smoothness exert great influence on the rapid oil-absorption properties of the PHA films. These newly discovered properties could be exploited to create a niche area for the practical applications of PHAs.
In this study, a small vascular graft based on polyurethane (PU) blended with chitosan (Ch) nanoparticles was fabricated using electrospinning technique. Initially, the chitosan nanoparticles were synthesized using ionic gelation method. UV-Vis spectrophotometer confirmed the presence of synthesized Ch nanoparticles by exhibiting absorption peak at 288 nm and the Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis confirmed the existence of the chitosan. Further, the synthesized Ch nanoparticles showed size diameter in the range of 134 ± 58 nm as measured using ImageJ. In the electrospun PU/chitosan graft, the fiber diameter and pore size diameter was found to be reduced compared to the pure PU owing to incorporation of chitosan into PU matrix. The FTIR spectrum revealed the presence of chitosan in the prepared nanocomposite membrane by the formation of the hydrogen bond and peak shift of CH and NH stretching. Moreover, the contact angle measurements revealed that the prepared graft showed decreased contact angle indicating hydrophilic nature compared to the pristine PU. The cytocompatibility studies revealed the non-toxic behavior of the fabricated graft. Hence, the prepared graft exhibiting significant physiochemical and non-toxic properties may be a plausible candidate for cardiovascular graft applications.
The biocompatible nature of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) attracted researchers' attention to deliver therapeutic agents in the treatment of various diseases, where their porous nature, high drug loading efficiency, and suitability to functionalize with a specific ligand of MSN helped to obtain the desired outcome. The application of MSN has been extended to deliver small chemicals to large-sized peptides or proteins to fight against complex diseases. Recently, formulation researches with MSN have been progressed for various non-conventional drug delivery systems, including liposome, microsphere, oro-dispersible film, 3D-printed formulation, and microneedle. Low bulk density, retaining mesoporous structure during downstream processing, and lack of sufficient in vivo studies are some of the important issues towards the success of mesoporous silica-based advanced drug delivery systems. The present review has aimed to evaluate the application of MSN in advanced drug delivery systems to critically analyze the role of MSN in the respective formulation over other functionalized polymers. Finally, an outlook on the future direction of MSN-based advanced drug delivery systems has been drawn against the existing challenges with this platform.
This report presents physical characterization and cell culture test of porous alumina-hydroxyapatite (HA) composites fabricated through protein foaming-consolidation technique. Alumina and HA powders were mixed with yolk and starch at an adjusted ratio to make slurry. The resulting slip was poured into cylindrical shaped molds and followed by foaming and consolidation via 180 °C drying for 1 h. The obtained green bodies were burned at 600 °C for 1 h, followed by sintering at temperatures of 1200-1550 °C for 2 h. Porous alumina-HA bodies with 26-77 vol.% shrinkage, 46%-52% porosity and 0.1-6.4 MPa compressive strength were obtained. The compressive strength of bodies increased with the increasing sintering temperatures. The addition of commercial HA in the body was found to increase the compressive strength, whereas the case is reverse for sol-gel derived HA. Biocompatibility study of porous alumina-HA was performed in a stirred tank bioreactor using culture of Vero cells. A good compatibility of the cells to the porous microcarriers was observed as the cells attached and grew at the surface of microcarriers at 8-120 cultured hours. The cell growth on porous alumina microcarrier was 0.015 h(-1) and increased to 0.019 h(-1) for 0.3 w/w HA-to-alumina mass ratio and decreased again to 0.017 h(-1) for 1.0 w/w ratio.
One of the novel and progressive technology employed in pharmaceutical manufacturing, design of medical device and tissue engineering is three-dimensional (3D) printing. 3D printing technologies provide great advantages in 3D scaffolds fabrication over traditional methods in the control of pore size, porosity, and interconnectivity. Various techniques of 3D-printing include powder bed fusion, fused deposition modeling, binder deposition, inkjet printing, photopolymerization and many others which are still evolving. 3D-printing technique been employed in developing immediate release products, various systems to deliver multiple release modalities etc. 3D printing has opened the door for new generation of customized drug delivery with built-in flexibility for safer and effective therapy. Our mini-review provides a quick snapshot on an overview of 3D printing, various techniques employed, applications and its advancements in pharmaceutical sciences.
This article reports a degradation study that was done on stent prototypes made of biodegradable Fe35Mn alloy in a simulated human coronary arterial condition. The stent degradation was observed for a short-term period from 0.5 to 168 h, which simulates the early period of stenting procedure. Potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used to quantify degradation rate and surface property of the stents. Results showed that signs of degradation were visible on both crimped and expanded stents after 1 h of test, mostly located on the stent's curvatures. The degradation rate of stent was higher compared to that of the original alloy, indicating the surface altering effect of stent fabrication processing to degradation. A single oxide layer was formed and detected as a porous structure with capacitive behavior. Expanded stents exhibited lower polarization resistance compared to the nonexpanded ones, indicating the cold work effect of expansion procedure to degradation.