Inside Front Cover: Poly(vinyl alcohol)-b-poly(styrene) copolymer (PVA-b-PS) self-assembles in solution, and after coating drying, it forms a semipermeable self-assembled membrane, as demonstrated by Wilfredo Yave co-workers article number 2200875. PVA is the permeable matrix PS acts an impermeable nanodomain. The design of this tailor-made block eliminates use chemical cross-linkers acid catal...

A new type of micro-osmometer is described in which water absorption of small tissue samples is measured by a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). The swelling of the sample deposited on the surface of a quartz crystal is determined by monitoring the change in resonance frequency of the quartz sensor as a function of the vapor pressure in the surrounding environment. The measurement principle is ...

A silk fibroin/poly (vinyl alcohol) porous scaffold with a water vapor transmission rate of 2125 ± 464 g/m(2)/day has been developed via thermally induced phase separation (gelation) and freeze-drying process. A hierarchical architecture of micropores and nanofibers was observed inside the scaffolds, and the related structures were analyzed. The viability and proliferation of 3T3 fibroblasts we...