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Polyelectrolytes are commonly used as flocculants in drinking water treatment. However the growing concerns about their toxicity have motivated the search for biocompatible flocculants. Here, we show that gelatin, a natural amphoteric polyelectrolyte, can be effectively adsorbed on clay surfaces and can potentially be a suitable substitute for existing flocculants. The adsorption of gelatin from its aqueous solution onto the mineral clay surfaces at different conditions was systematically investigated using the design of experiments methodology. The gelatin adsorption was found to vary considerately with pH variation showed a maximum adsorption at its isoelectric point. The amount of adsorbed gelation increased with increasing pH from 3 to 5, attained a maximum at pH 5 and then decreased with increasing pH from 5 to 11. Similarly, the amount of adsorbed gelatin showed decreasing trends around salt concentration of 0.05 M and temperature 35°C. On the other hand, the adsorption was continuously increased with time and polymer concentration in the range of 0.1-0.9 mg/dL. Finally, the jar tests confirmed the ability of gelatin for using a natural flocculant for water treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From coffee beans flowing in a chute to cells remodelling in a living tissue, a wide variety of close-packed collective systems-both inert and living-have the potential to jam. The collective can sometimes flow like a fluid or jam and rigidify like a solid. The unjammed-to-jammed transition remains poorly understood, however, and structural properties characterizing these phases remain unknown. Using primary human bronchial epithelial cells, we show that the jamming transition in asthma is linked to cell shape, thus establishing in that system a structural criterion for cell jamming. Surprisingly, the collapse of critical scaling predicts a counter-intuitive relationship between jamming, cell shape and cell-cell adhesive stresses that is borne out by direct experimental observations. Cell shape thus provides a rigorous structural signature for classification and investigation of bronchial epithelial layer jamming in asthma, and potentially in any process in disease or development in which epithelial dynamics play a prominent role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, influence of incorporating LiClO4 salt on the crystallization, conformation, and ionic conductivity of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) in its miscible blend with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is studied. Differential scanning calorimetry showed that the incorporation of salt ions into the blend suppresses the crystallinity of PEO. The X-ray diffraction revealed that the unit-cell parameters of the crystals are independent of the LiClO4 concentration despite of the existence of ionic interactions between PEO and Li cations. In addition, the complexation of the Li+ ions by oxygen atoms of PEO is investigated via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The conformational changes of PEO segments in the presence of salt ions are studied via Raman spectroscopy. It is found that PEO chains in the blend possess a crown-ether like conformation because of their particular complexation with the Li+ ions. This coordination of PEO with lithium cations amorphize the PEO and is accounted for suppressed crystallinity of PEO in the presence of salt ions. Finally, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy is used to characterize the ionic conductivity of PEO in the PEO/PMMA/LiClO4 ternary mixture at various temperatures. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex coacervation driven by associative electrostaticinteractionswas studied in mixtures of exfoliated sodium-montmorillonite (Na+MMT) nanoplatelets and fish gelatin, at a specific mixingratio and room temperature. Structural and viscoelastic propertiesof the coacervate phase were investigated as a function of pH by meansof different complementary techniques. Independent of the techniqueused, the results consistently showed that there is an optimum pHvalue at which the coacervate phase shows the tightest structure withhighest elasticity. The solid-like coacervates showed an obvious shear-thinningbehavior and network fracture but immediately recovered back intotheir original elastic character upon removal of the shear strain.The nonlinear mechanical response characterized by single step stressrelaxation experiments revealed the same trend for the yield stressand isochronal shear modulus of the coacervates as a function of pHwith a maximum at pH 3.0 and lower values at 2.5 and 3.5 pHs, followedby a very sharp drop at pH 4.0. Finally, small-angle X-ray scattering(SAXS) data confirmed that at pHs lower than 4.0 the coacervate phaseswere dense and structured with a characteristic length scale (ξSAXS) of ∼7–9 nm. Comparing the ξSAXSwith rheological characteristic length (ξrheol)estimated from low-frequency linear viscoelastic data and networktheory, it was concluded that both the strength of the electrostaticinteractions and the conformation of the gelatin chains before andduring of the coacervation process are responsible for the structureand rigidity of the coacervates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer-silicate nanocomposites based on poly (ethylene oxide), PEO, poly(methyl methacrylate), PMMA, and sodium montmorillonite clay were fabricated and characterized to investigate the effect of nanolayered silicates on segmental dynamics of PEO/PMMA blends. X-ray results indicate the formation of an exfoliated morphology in the nanocomposites. At low silicate contents, an enhancement in segmental dynamics of blend nanocomposites and also PEO, minor component in blend, is observed at temperature region below blend glass transition. This result can be attributed to the improvement of the confinement effect of rigid PMMA matrix on the PEO chains by introducing a low amount of layered silicates. On the other hand, at high silicate contents, an enhancement in segmental dynamics of blend nanocomposites and PEO is observed at temperature region above blend glass transition. This behavior could be interpreted based on the reduction of monomeric friction between two polymer components, which can facilitate segmental motions of blend components in nanocomposite systems. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on chiral materials and examines the palette of morphologies that arises when micro droplets are deformed into non-spherical shapes in a controllable manner. It discusses the use of geometrical confinement and mechanical strain to manipulate orientational order, phase transitions, and topological defects that arise in chiral liquid crystal droplets.

Effective bone tissue engineering is important to overcome the unmet clinical challenges as more than 1.6 million bone grafts are done annually in the United States. Successful bone tissue engineering needs minimally three critical constituents: osteoprogenitor cells, osteogenic factors, and osteoinductive/osteoconductive scaffolds. Osteogenic progenitors are derived from multipotent mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which can be prepared from numerous tissue sources, including adipose tissue. We previously showed that BMP9 is the most osteogenic BMP and induces robust bone formation of immortalized mouse adipose-derived MSCs entrapped in a citrate-based thermoresponsive hydrogel referred to as PPCNg. As graphene and its derivatives emerge as promising biomaterials, here we develop a novel thermosensitive and injectable hybrid material by combining graphene oxide (GO) with PPCNg (designated as GO-P) and characterize its ability to promote bone formation. We demonstrate that the thermoresponsive behavior of the hybrid material is maintained while effectively supporting MSC survival and proliferation. Furthermore, GO-P induces early bone-forming marker alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and potentiates BMP9-induced expression of osteogenic regulators and bone markers as well as angiogenic factor VEGF in MSCs. In vivo studies show BMP9-transduced MSCs entrapped in the GO-P scaffold form well-mineralized and highly vascularized trabecular bone. Thus, these results indicate that GO-P hybrid material may function as a new biocompatible, injectable scaffold with osteoinductive and osteoconductive activities for bone regeneration., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest.

Graphene-based materials are used in many fields but have found only limited applications in biomedicine, including bone tissue engineering. Here, we demonstrate that novel hybrid materials consisting of gelatin-derived graphene and silicate nanosheets of Laponite (GL) are biocompatible and promote osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Homogeneous cell attachment, long-term proliferation, and osteogenic differentiation of MSCs on a GL-scaffold were confirmed using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. GL-powders made by pulverizing the GL-scaffold were shown to promote bone morphogenetic protein (BMP9)-induced osteogenic differentiation. GL-powders increased the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in immortalized mouse embryonic fibroblasts but decreased the ALP activity in more-differentiated immortalized mouse adipose-derived cells. Note, however, that GL-powders promoted BMP9-induced calcium mineral deposits in both MSC lines, as assessed using qualitative and quantitative alizarin red assays. Furthermore, the expression of chondro-osteogenic regulator markers such as Runx2, Sox9, osteopontin, and osteocalcin was upregulated by the GL-powder, independent of BMP9 stimulation; although the powder synergistically upregulated the BMP9-induced Osterix expression, the adipogenic marker PPARγ was unaffected. Furthermore, in vivo stem cell implantation experiments demonstrated that GL-powder could significantly enhance the BMP9-induced ectopic bone formation from MSCs. Collectively, our results strongly suggest that the GL hybrid materials promote BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation of MSCs and hold promise for the development of bone tissue engineering platforms.

Gelatin nanoparticles, cross-linked by a mixture of a water soluble carbodiimide (CDI) and N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) as a non-toxic cross-linking system, was prepared. The conventional two step desolvation method with acetone as the non-solvent was used. The mean size and size distribution as well as the morphology of the formed nanoparticles were evaluated and compared with those of nanoparticles cross-linked by glutaraldehyde (GA) as the most commonly used cross-linking agent. Furthermore, intrinsic viscosities of the nanoparticles cross-linked by CDI/NHS and GA were measured and compared under various conditions. The results showed the formation of smoother and more homogeneous nanoparticles with smaller size when CDI/NHS used as cross-linking agent under the same synthesis condition. Moreover, nanoparticles encapsulating paracetamol as a model drug were produced by the two different cross-linking agents and were characterized for drug entrapment and loading efficiencies and in vitro drug release. Both drug entrapment and loading efficiencies was higher in the CDI/NHS cross-linked nanoparticles; however, the release kinetics was comparable to that of nanoparticles cross-linked with GA. The differences in the characteristics of CDI/NHS and GA cross-linked nanoparticles were attributed to the different nature of network structures formed by the two cross-linking agents. On the whole, these results suggested that CDI/NHS cross-linked nanoparticles have high potential to be used for drug delivery application in preference to the nanoparticles synthesized by toxic cross-linking agents.

In this study, organoclay nanocomposites based on two types of organoclay: montmorillonite intercalated with dimethyle, dehydrogenated tallow quaternary ammonium cation (Cloisite 20A) and dimethyl, 2-ethyl hexyl hydrogenated tallow alkyl ammonium cation (Cloisite 30B) with nylon 6 were prepared through in-situ polymerization. In this experiment, no solvents were used during the synthesis, a method which is employed in green chemistry approach. The organoclay was dispersed in molten monomer (caprolactam) and polymerization took place. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) and Ultra Violet (UV) absorbance techniques were used to characterize the two types of nanocomposites. The full exfoliation morphology of the two nanocomposites was shown by XRD. DSC analysis showed that crystalline structures of PA 6 were predominantly alpha form, with traces of the gamma and beta forms. While the addition of Cloisite 20A increased the amount of gamma and beta forms, Cloisite 30B eliminated crystalline beta form and increased the gamma form, so that gamma form became predominant crystalline form. FT-IR spectroscopy indicated some of the PA chains grafted on to montmorillonite surface modified by ammonium cations bearing hydroxyl groups.