Natural biopolymers from plant sources contain many impurities (e.g., fat, protein, fiber, natural pigment and endogenous enzymes), therefore, an efficient purification process is recommended to minimize these impurities and consequently improve the functional properties of the biopolymer. The main objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of different purification techniques...

Hydrogels are hydrophilic three-dimensional networks with demonstrated potential for medical and pharmaceutical applications. Specifically, biopolymer-based hydrogels offer certain advantages over synthetic polymers in terms of biocompatibility and biodegradability. Because of their inherent properties, hydrogels are able to efficiently encapsulate and liberate in a controlled release manner, d...

Fish scale biopolymer blended with nanocellulose crystals is used for production of microneedles applying mechanical press microfabrication and the effect of nanocellulose on microfabrication, water absorption, moisture stability and mechanical properties of the microneedles is reported. The results show that microneedles produced from the nanocellulose loaded fish scale biopolymer requires hig...

Nano-carbons, including fullerenes, carbon nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, graphene, and nano-diamonds, are an important class of nanostructures attracting tremendous interests in the past two decades. In this special issue, seven review articles and research reports are collected, to summarize and present the latest progress in the exploration of various nano-carbons for theranostic applicati...

There has been an increasing interest in research on using bio-renewable polymers as a replacement to traditional synthetic based petroleum resources for adhesive applications. Cellulose, which is the most abundant biopolymer finds application reinforcing agent conventional adhesives. However, natural polymer cellulose suffers from few drawbacks like poor water resistance, low mechanical streng...

In this paper we investigate the use of active coated nanoparticles (CNPs) for nano-sensing applications. Simulation results of the optical properties of an active CNP with a 24nm radius active silica core and 6nm thick plasmonic shell made of silver that has been functionalized by an additional spherical outer layer of varying thickness and refractive index are presented. In particular, the ef...

The rising concerns in terms of environmental protection and the search for more versatile polymer-based materials have led to an increasing interest in the use of polymer composites filled with natural organic fillers (biodegradable and/or coming from renewable resources) as a replacement for traditional mineral inorganic fillers. At the same time, the recycling of polymers is still of fundame...

INTRODUCTION Alterations in the vocal folds that involve volume reduction and glottal closure failure result in exaggerated air escape during speech. For such situations, the use of implants or grafts of different materials has been proposed. OBJECTIVE To define the effect of sugarcane biopolymer gel when implanted in the vocal folds of rabbits. METHODS This was an experimental study. The v...