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AbstractBackgroundMethodsResultsConclusionsIn healthcare settings, Central Venous Catheter-Associated Bloodstream Infections (CVC-BSIs) present a serious problem since they raise morbidity, mortality, and medical expense rates. The management of these illnesses is made more challenging by the development of antimicrobiotic resistance. Nanotechnology has attracted interest recently as a viable method for creating new antimicrobial agents. By putting antibacterial nanomaterials onto the catheter’s appear, that may reduce the likelihood of getting sick by stopping germs from adhering and growing. Antimicrobial additives can be released gradually finishes, protecting over time through bioengineering sectors. To prevent and treat CVC-BSIs, this study will assess the efficacy of antimicrobial medicines based on nanoparticles.In the network Meta-Analyses (MA) and Systematic Review (SR), we looked for studies published from January 2010 to September 2021 using the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), EMBASE, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Web of Science databases. Ten papers in all were included in the review following the screening of the publications using inclusion and exclusion criteria.In contrast to conventional catheters, the implementation of Antimicrobial Catheters (AC) and the use of chlorhexidine (CHG) or Silver Sulfadiazine (SS) demonstrated notably reduced occurrences of Central Venous Catheter-Associated Bloodstream Infections (CVC-BSIs) per 1000 Catheter Days (CD) (with Odds Ratios (ORs) and 95% Credibility Intervals (CrIs) of 0.66 and 0.54, respectively) by bioengineering sectors. Moreover, these interventions were linked to the lowest rate of Catheter Colonization (CC), with ORs as well as 95% CrIs of 0.45 and 0.31, respectively, underscoring their potential as effective strategies for minimizing the risk of infections associated with catheter use as well as bioengineering sectors innovations.As a result, CVC-BSI has shown significant promise for prevention and treatment with nanoparticle-based antimicrobial medicines. Due to their special characteristics and modes of action, they are strong candidates for improving the security and effectiveness of central venous catheter use in clinical settings. Due to ongoing research and development in this area, nanoparticle-based coatings and therapies may be used to lessen the impact of CVC-BSIs and enhance patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular dynamics simulations of electro-osmotic flow through a channel coated by a mixed polymer brush reveal the modulation of electro-osmotic flow. The mixed polymer brush consists of two types of neutral chains, denoted as PA and PB chains, respectively. The effect of the interaction strength between PA and PB monomers on fluid transport is studied. It was found that the PA-PB interaction plays an important role in controlling the flow. The mixed polymer brush adopts a layered structure owing to the difference in solvent-polymer interactions. Stronger shear force from the solvent flow leads to larger extension of polymer chains on the top layer (or PA chains). Such layering structure also causes different coupling between polymer conformational dynamics and fluid dynamics. At high grafting densities, there are remarkable differences in the velocity profiles for different PA-PB interactions. For repulsive and attractive interactions, the increase of grafting density leads to reduced fluid transport. However, when the attraction between PA and PB interactions becomes stronger, the flow behavior is more complicated depending on the grafting density. Our simulation results indicate the change of ionic distribution induced by the conformational transition due to the PA-PB interaction has significant contributions to the flow controlling. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 57:1293-1300, 2017. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT We perform multiscale simulations based on the coupling of molecular dynamics and lattice-Boltzmann (LB) method to study the electrohydrodynamics of a polyampholyte-grafted spherical nanoparticle. The long-range hydrodynamic interactions are modeled by coupling the movement of particles to a LB fluid. Our results indicate that the net-neutral soft particle moves with a nonzero mobility under applied electric fields. We systematically explore the effects of different parameters, including the chain length, grafting density, electric field, and charge sequence, on the structures of the polymer layer and the electrophoretic mobility of the soft particle. It shows that the mobility of nanoparticles has remarkable dependence on these parameters. We find that the deformation of the polyampholyte chains and the ion distribution play dominant roles in modulating the electrokinetic behavior of the polyampholyte-grafted particle. The enhancement or reduction in the accumulation of counterions around monomers can be attributed to the polymer layer structure and the conformational transition of the chains in the electric field. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2017, 55, 1435-1447 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The LPE chain develops various wrapping conformations around the SPB. [•] The complexation degree shows strong dependence on the core radius. [•] Various conformational binding modes for the LPE–nanoparticle complex are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular dynamics simulations were used to investigate the electric field-induced migration of nanoparticles in a nanochannel grafted with a polymer brush. The distribution of nanoparticles, brush monomer density and migration velocity are addressed at different electric field strengths and grafting densities. The increase of the grafting density leads to a decrease of the effective radius of the nanochannel. At high grafting density, the distribution of nanoparticles is shifted significantly towards the center of the channel. Enhancing the electric field leads to a very slight change of brush monomer density. The migration velocity increases with the electric field rapidly at weak electric fields, while a slow increase is observed at strong electric fields. Additionally, it is found that the migration velocity of nanoparticles exhibits a nonlinear dependence on the grafting density. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recently, various types of hollow materials have been added into polymer matrices to improve the gas permeation and separation performance of polymer materials. In this study, hollow polyimide (PI) nanoparticles with microporous shells were synthesized by interfacial polymerization between 4,4-(9-fluorenylidene)-dianiline and 1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarbonyl tetrachloride in the microemulsion. Free-standing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/hollow PI nanoparticles mixed matrix membranes were prepared and the gas permeation-separation performance was investigated. The hollow and porous structure of the nanoparticles was well-preserved in membranes, which reduced the mass transport resistance. The permeability firstly increased and then decreased as the nanoparticle loading increased without sacrificing the permselectivity. Compared to the neat PMDS membranes with O 2 and CO 2 permeability of 786 and 3484 Barrer, respectively, the mixed matrix membranes with 3 wt% hollow PI nanoparticles achieved a O 2 permeability up to 1664 Barrer accompanied with an O 2 /N 2 permselectivity of 2.3 and a CO 2 permeability up to 6639 Barrer accompanied with a CO 2 /N 2 permselectivity of 9.1 at 35 °C and 0.2 MPa. Mixed-matrix composite membranes were fabricated by dip-coating the porous polyetherimide substrate into a PDMS solution with 3 wt% nanoparticles. The resultant defect-free mixed-matrix composite membrane showed excellent O 2 and CO 2 permeances of up to 1677 and 6502 GPU, respectively. The air separation measurement showed that the composite membranes could produce oxygen-enriched permeate stream enriched to ca. 30 vol%. [Display omitted] • Doping hollow PI nanoparticles into PDMS increased permeabilities by over 90%. • Permeabilities increased without sacrificing the permselectivity of MMMs. • The defect-free composite mixed matrix membrane was fabricated by dip-coating. • The O 2 permeance of composite membranes was 1677 GPU and that of CO 2 was 6502 GPU. • In a one-stage air separation module, O 2 was concentrated to 30% at permeate side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Al-air batteries are regarded as potential power source for flexible and wearable devices. However, the traditional cathodes of Al-air batteries are easy to be broken after continuous bending. This is why few Al-air batteries have been tested under the state of dynamic bending so far. Herein, carbon nanofibers incorporated with Mn3O4 catalyst have been prepared as bending-resistant cathodes through direct electrospinning. The cathode assembled in Al-air battery showed excellent electrochemical and mechanical stability. A high specific capacity of 1021 mAh/cm2 was achieved after bending 1000 times, which is 81.7% of that in platform state. This work will facilitate the progress of using Al-air battery in flexible electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A basic understanding of the transport mechanisms of nanostructures in a polymer brush-modified nanochannel as well as the brush-nanostructure interactions at molecular level is important to design and fabricate emerging smart nano/microfluidic channels. In this work, we report coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations of the translocation of nanoparticles through a cylindrical nanochannel coated with the polymer brush. The effects of the interparticle interaction and grafting density on the distribution and electrokinetic transport of nanoparticles are addressed in detail. Analysis of the distribution and velocity profiles of nanoparticles from the simulations indicate that the location of nanoparticles along the radial direction and their migration velocity are very sensitive to the change of interparticle interaction. We find complicated transport dynamics of nanoparticles under the influence of various grafting densities. The nanoparticles show markedly different translocation behavior upon increasing the grafting density, which depends on the counterion distribution, free room within the brush, nanoparticle-polymer friction, and brush configuration. Our results may serve as a useful starting point for the transport of nanostructures in polymer-modified channels and help to guide the design of novel smart nanofluidic channels for controlling the migration behavior of nanostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]