materials-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Polymeric Materials: Surfaces, Interfaces and Bioapplications II

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2020) | Viewed by 29199

Special Issue Editors

Institute of Polymer Science and Technology (ICTP-CSIC), 28006 Madrid, Spain
Interests: polymer coatings; antimicrobial coatings; biointerfaces; porous surfaces; functional surfaces superhydrophobicity; bioapplications
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Polímeros (ICTP-CSIC) & Interdisciplinary Platform for Sustainable Plastics towards a Circular Economy, SusPlast-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
Interests: polymeric micro/nanogels; smart polymers; antimicrobial polymers, rheology; cellulosic liquid crystalline polymers; natural polymers, electrospinning
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Polímeros (ICTP-CSIC) & Interdisciplinary Platform for Sustainable Plastics towards a Circular Economy, SusPlast-CSIC & Instituto de Tecnología de Materiales, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia; Spain
Interests: green polymer chemistry; enzymatic catalysis; biobased polymers; shape memory polymers; (nano)composites
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Further to the success of the Special Issue of Materials “Polymeric Materials: Surfaces, Interfaces and, Bioapplications”, we are delighted to reopen the Special Issue, now entitled “Polymeric Materials: Surfaces, Interfaces and, Bioapplications II”.

Polymeric materials—either synthetic or natural—play an essential role in everyday life, especially those dedicated to bioapplications, such as medical devices, implants, drug delivery systems, active food packaging, agricultural films for farming and crop protection, biosensors, or bioremediation, among others.

This Special Issue aims to cover all the aspects related to recent innovations on surfaces, interfaces, and bioapplications of polymeric materials. Special emphasis will be placed on the influence of chemical or physical surface modification on the inferred properties, such as wettability, stimuli-responsiveness, compatibility, adhesion, toxicity, etc. Besides, contributions analyzing the effect of interfaces and interphases of polymeric blends, hybrids, or (nano)composites on their physico-chemical and biological properties are also appreciated. We also intend to include functional and protective coatings as well as thin films for biological applications in this Special Issue. Finally, we would like to emphasize that this Special Issue is widely inclusive, so we expect a large number of works to fall within its scope.

Therefore, it is our pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript for this Special Issue. Full papers, communications, and reviews are all welcome.

Dr. Marta Fernández-García
Dr. Alexandra Muñoz-Bonilla
Dr. Coro Echeverría
Dr. Águeda Sonseca
Dr. Marina P. Arrieta
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Biobased polymers/biomaterials
  • Surface modification/functionalization
  • Surface segregation micro- and nanopatterned films
  • Blends, (nano)composites and hybrid polymeric materials
  • Coatings/thin films
  • Surface wettability
  • Stimuli-responsive materials/smart surfaces
  • Bioapplications

Published Papers (7 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

15 pages, 2432 KiB  
Article
Preparation and Characterization of TPP-Chitosan Crosslinked Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering
by Ilaria Silvestro, Iolanda Francolini, Valerio Di Lisio, Andrea Martinelli, Loris Pietrelli, Anna Scotto d’Abusco, Andromeda Scoppio and Antonella Piozzi
Materials 2020, 13(16), 3577; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13163577 - 13 Aug 2020
Cited by 61 | Viewed by 3335
Abstract
Scaffolds are three-dimensional porous structures that must have specific requirements to be applied in tissue engineering. Therefore, the study of factors affecting scaffold performance is of great importance. In this work, the optimal conditions for cross-linking preformed chitosan (CS) scaffolds by the tripolyphosphate [...] Read more.
Scaffolds are three-dimensional porous structures that must have specific requirements to be applied in tissue engineering. Therefore, the study of factors affecting scaffold performance is of great importance. In this work, the optimal conditions for cross-linking preformed chitosan (CS) scaffolds by the tripolyphosphate polyanion (TPP) were investigated. The effect on scaffold physico-chemical properties of different concentrations of chitosan (1 and 2% w/v) and tripolyphosphate (1 and 2% w/v) as well as of cross-linking reaction times (2, 4, or 8 h) were studied. It was evidenced that a low CS concentration favored the formation of three-dimensional porous structures with a good pore interconnection while the use of more severe conditions in the cross-linking reaction (high TPP concentration and crosslinking reaction time) led to scaffolds with a suitable pore homogeneity, thermal stability, swelling behavior, and mechanical properties, but having a low pore interconnectivity. Preliminary biocompatibility tests showed a good osteoblasts’ viability when cultured on the scaffold obtained by CS 1%, TPP 1%, and an 8-h crosslinking time. These findings suggest how modulation of scaffold cross-linking conditions may permit to obtain chitosan scaffold with properly tuned morphological, mechanical and biological properties for application in the tissue regeneration field. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymeric Materials: Surfaces, Interfaces and Bioapplications II)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

22 pages, 6911 KiB  
Article
Effect of Cu- and Zn-Doped Bioactive Glasses on the In Vitro Bioactivity, Mechanical and Degradation Behavior of Biodegradable PDLLA Scaffolds
by Julian Bejarano, Aldo R. Boccaccini, Cristian Covarrubias and Humberto Palza
Materials 2020, 13(13), 2908; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13132908 - 29 Jun 2020
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 2722
Abstract
Biodegradable polymer scaffolds filled with bioactive glass particles doped with therapeutic metal ions are a novel and promising strategy to repair critical-sized bone defects. In this study, scaffolds based on a poly (D, L-lactide acid) (PDLLA) matrix filled with un-doped and Cu-, Zn- [...] Read more.
Biodegradable polymer scaffolds filled with bioactive glass particles doped with therapeutic metal ions are a novel and promising strategy to repair critical-sized bone defects. In this study, scaffolds based on a poly (D, L-lactide acid) (PDLLA) matrix filled with un-doped and Cu-, Zn- and CuZn-doped bioactive glass particles were produced by freeze-drying and a salt-leaching method. The effects of the doping and content of the glass particles (10 and 30 wt.%) on the morphology, compression properties, apatite formation, and degradation behavior of the scaffolds were evaluated. The scaffolds presented high porosity (~93%) with pores ranged from 100 to 400 μm interconnected by smaller pores and this porosity was kept after the glass particles incorporation. The glass particles reinforced the polymer scaffolds with improvements as high as 130% in elastic moduli, and further promoted the apatite formation on the scaffold surface, both properties depending on the amount and type of filler. The bioactive glass particles boosted the scaffold degradation with the PDLLA/un-doped glass scaffold showing the highest rate, but still retaining structural and dimensional integrity. Our findings show that the incorporation of un-doped and metal-doped bioactive glasses increases the mechanical strength, promotes the bioactivity and modifies the degradation profile of the resulting polymer/glass scaffolds, making them better candidates for bone repair. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymeric Materials: Surfaces, Interfaces and Bioapplications II)
Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 1449 KiB  
Article
Modified Starch as a Filter Controller in Water-Based Drilling Fluids
by Diana Soto, Orietta León, José Urdaneta, Alexandra Muñoz-Bonilla and Marta Fernández-García
Materials 2020, 13(12), 2794; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13122794 - 20 Jun 2020
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 2686
Abstract
Herein, the effectiveness of an itaconic acid (IA) graft copolymer on native corn starch (NCS) as a filter control agent in fresh water-based drilling fluids (WBDFs) was evaluated. The copolymer (S-g-IA_APS) was synthesized by conventional radical dispersion polymerization using the redox [...] Read more.
Herein, the effectiveness of an itaconic acid (IA) graft copolymer on native corn starch (NCS) as a filter control agent in fresh water-based drilling fluids (WBDFs) was evaluated. The copolymer (S-g-IA_APS) was synthesized by conventional radical dispersion polymerization using the redox initiation system (NH4)2S2O8/NaHSO3. The modification of the starches was verified by volumetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Then, three WBDFs were formulated in which only the added polymer (NCS, S-g-IA_APS, and a commercial starch (CPS)) was varied to control the fluid losses. The physico-chemical, rheological, and filtering properties of the formulated systems were evaluated in terms of density (ρ), pH, plastic viscosity (µp), apparent viscosity (µa), yield point (Yp), gel strength (Rg), and filtrated volume (VAPI). In order to evaluate the resistance to temperature and contaminants of the WBDFs, they were subjected to high pressure and high temperature filtering (VHPHT). The filter control agents were also subjected to aging and contamination with cement and salt. The S-g-IA_APS addition improved the filtering behavior at a high pressure and temperature by 38%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymeric Materials: Surfaces, Interfaces and Bioapplications II)
Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 1796 KiB  
Article
Development of Poly(2-Methacryloyloxyethyl Phosphorylcholine)-Functionalized Hydrogels for Reducing Protein and Bacterial Adsorption
by Temmy Pegarro Vales, Jun-Pil Jee, Won Young Lee, Sung Cho, Gye Myung Lee, Ho-Joong Kim and Jung Suk Kim
Materials 2020, 13(4), 943; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13040943 - 20 Feb 2020
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 4161
Abstract
A series of hydrogels with intrinsic antifouling properties was prepared via surface-functionalization of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) [p(HEMA)]-based hydrogels with the biomembrane-mimicking zwitterionic polymer, poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine) [p(MPC)]. The p(MPC)-modified hydrogels have enhanced surface wettability, high water content retention (61.0%–68.3%), and good transmittance (>90%). Notably, the [...] Read more.
A series of hydrogels with intrinsic antifouling properties was prepared via surface-functionalization of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) [p(HEMA)]-based hydrogels with the biomembrane-mimicking zwitterionic polymer, poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine) [p(MPC)]. The p(MPC)-modified hydrogels have enhanced surface wettability, high water content retention (61.0%–68.3%), and good transmittance (>90%). Notably, the presence of zwitterionic MPC moieties at the hydrogel surfaces lowered the adsorption of proteins such as lysozyme and bovine serum albumin (BSA) by 73%–74% and 59%–66%, respectively, and reduced bacterial adsorption by approximately 10%–73% relative to the unmodified control. The anti-biofouling properties of the p(MPC)-functionalized hydrogels are largely attributed to the dense hydration layer formed at the hydrogel surfaces by the zwitterionic moieties. Overall, the results demonstrate that biocompatible and antifouling hydrogels based on p(HEMA)-p(MPC) structures have promising potential for application in biomedical materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymeric Materials: Surfaces, Interfaces and Bioapplications II)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

18 pages, 3546 KiB  
Article
Environmentally Friendly Fertilizers Based on Starch Superabsorbents
by Orietta León, Diana Soto, Jesús González, Carlos Piña, Alexandra Muñoz-Bonilla and Marta Fernandez-García
Materials 2019, 12(21), 3493; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12213493 - 25 Oct 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2583
Abstract
Superabsorbents starches (SASs) were synthesized and characterized starting from native corn starch, bitter cassava and sweet cassava by graft copolymerization with itaconic acid. Additionally, their swelling behavior was studied both in water and in buffer solutions with different pHs and saline solutions. Their [...] Read more.
Superabsorbents starches (SASs) were synthesized and characterized starting from native corn starch, bitter cassava and sweet cassava by graft copolymerization with itaconic acid. Additionally, their swelling behavior was studied both in water and in buffer solutions with different pHs and saline solutions. Their applicability was tested as environmentally friendly fertilizers in the absorption and release of urea, potassium nitrate and ammonium nitrate at different concentrations of fertilizers. The values of swelling at the equilibrium (H) in water and different media of the graft copolymers demonstrated their superabsorbent capacity, polyelectrolyte behavior, and smart response to environmental stimuli. The percentage of fertilizer absorbed and released from the SASs was a function of the initial concentration of the fertilizer in the medium. The loading and release of SASs were depended on the initial concentration of the fertilizer in the medium as well as the nature, structure, and morphology of the starch used. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymeric Materials: Surfaces, Interfaces and Bioapplications II)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

26 pages, 2936 KiB  
Review
Biobased Materials from Microbial Biomass and Its Derivatives
by Celeste Cottet, Yuly A. Ramirez-Tapias, Juan F. Delgado, Orlando de la Osa, Andrés G. Salvay and Mercedes A. Peltzer
Materials 2020, 13(6), 1263; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13061263 - 11 Mar 2020
Cited by 44 | Viewed by 7380
Abstract
There is a strong public concern about plastic waste, which promotes the development of new biobased materials. The benefit of using microbial biomass for new developments is that it is a completely renewable source of polymers, which is not limited to climate conditions [...] Read more.
There is a strong public concern about plastic waste, which promotes the development of new biobased materials. The benefit of using microbial biomass for new developments is that it is a completely renewable source of polymers, which is not limited to climate conditions or may cause deforestation, as biopolymers come from vegetal biomass. The present review is focused on the use of microbial biomass and its derivatives as sources of biopolymers to form new materials. Yeast and fungal biomass are low-cost and abundant sources of biopolymers with high promising properties for the development of biodegradable materials, while milk and water kefir grains, composed by kefiran and dextran, respectively, produce films with very good optical and mechanical properties. The reasons for considering microbial cellulose as an attractive biobased material are the conformational structure and enhanced properties compared to plant cellulose. Kombucha tea, a probiotic fermented sparkling beverage, produces a floating membrane that has been identified as bacterial cellulose as a side stream during this fermentation. The results shown in this review demonstrated the good performance of microbial biomass to form new materials, with enhanced functional properties for different applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymeric Materials: Surfaces, Interfaces and Bioapplications II)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

21 pages, 3232 KiB  
Review
Novel Bioactive and Therapeutic Root Canal Sealers with Antibacterial and Remineralization Properties
by Bashayer H. Baras, Mary Anne S. Melo, Vivek Thumbigere-Math, Franklin R. Tay, Ashraf F. Fouad, Thomas W. Oates, Michael D. Weir, Lei Cheng and Hockin H. K. Xu
Materials 2020, 13(5), 1096; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13051096 - 01 Mar 2020
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 5130
Abstract
According to the American Dental Association Survey of Dental Services Rendered (published in 2007), 15 million root canal treatment procedures are performed annually. Endodontic therapy relies mainly on biomechanical preparation, chemical irrigation and intracanal medicaments which play an important role in eliminating bacteria [...] Read more.
According to the American Dental Association Survey of Dental Services Rendered (published in 2007), 15 million root canal treatment procedures are performed annually. Endodontic therapy relies mainly on biomechanical preparation, chemical irrigation and intracanal medicaments which play an important role in eliminating bacteria in the root canal. Furthermore, adequate obturation is essential to confine any residual bacteria within the root canal and deprive them of nutrients. However, numerous studies have shown that complete elimination of bacteria is not achieved due to the complex anatomy of the root canal system. There are several conventional antibiotic materials available in the market for endodontic use. However, the majority of these antibiotics and antiseptics provide short-term antibacterial effects, and they impose a risk of developing antibacterial resistance. The root canal is a dynamic environment, and antibacterial and antibiofilm materials with long-term effects and nonspecific mechanisms of action are highly desirable in such environments. In addition, the application of acidic solutions to the root canal wall can alter the dentin structure, resulting in a weaker and more brittle dentin. Root canal sealers with bioactive properties come in direct contact with the dentin wall and can play a positive role in bacterial elimination and strengthening of the root structure. The new generation of nanostructured, bioactive, antibacterial and remineralizing additives into polymeric resin-based root canal sealers are discussed in this review. The effects of these novel bioactive additives on the physical and sealing properties, as well as their biocompatibility, are all important factors that are presented in this article. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymeric Materials: Surfaces, Interfaces and Bioapplications II)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop