Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) demonstrates chemical stability and biocompatibility and is widely used in biomedical applications. The porous bamboo charcoal has excellent toxin absorptivity and has been used in blood purification. In this study, bamboo charcoal nanoparticles (BCNPs) were acquired with nano-grinding technology. The PVA and PVA/BCNP nanocomposite membranes were prepared and characteriz...

The aim of this study was to examine the mechanical characteristics of a polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel (PVA-H) as a candidate material for artificial joint cartilage. In the study, PVA-H was filled with α-tricalcium phosphate (α-TCP) in order to improve its mechanical properties. In addition, laminated composite materials with 3 layers were prepared by laminating α-TCP–filled PVA-H and unfilled PV...

Cultures of adipose tissue explants are a valuable tool for studying the intracellular mechanisms involving hormones and nutrients. However, testing how fatty acids affect cells requires a carrier molecule; bovine serum albumin (BSA) has been used for this purpose. However, contaminants can alter the cellular response. Our objectives were to: 1) test BSA as a fatty acid carrier and 2) evaluate ...

ZnS:Cu/Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) composite nanofibers have been successfully prepared by electrospinning technique. The formation of ZnS: Cu/PVA nanofibers were carried out by reacting H2S with Zn(AC)2:Cu/PVA nanofibers, which were electrospun from the mixture aqueous solution of Zn(Ac)2, Cu(Ac)2 and PVA. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray-diffr...

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is a hydrophilic polymer with various characteristics desired for biomedical applications and can be transformed into a solid hydrogel by physical crosslinking, using a low-temperature thermal cycling process. As with most polymeric materials, the mechanical properties of the resultant PVA are isotropic, as oppose to most soft tissues, which are anisotropic. The objectiv...

In a mixed continuous culture of Pseudomonas putida VM15A and Pseudomonas sp. strain VM15C with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as the sole source of carbon, growth of the PVA-degrading bacterium VM15C and, hence, PVA degradation were limited by the growth factor, pyrroloquinoline quinone, produced by VM15A. Feeding of a carbon source for VM15A, ethanol, with PVA enhanced pyrroloquinoline quinone produ...

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) / starch (S) /Carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC) / Montmorillonite (MMT) bionanocomposite films were prepared from PVA, MMT, CMC and soluble starch aqueous suspensions by casting method in the presence of a plasticizer that contained glycerol. The kinetics of thermal degradation of PVA/S/CMC/MMT blends was investigated by thermogravimetry (TGA) and derivative thermogravimetr...

BACKGROUND The study investigated the use of combined photodynamic therapy (PDT) and stent placement for the treatment of cholangiocarcinoma (CC). For this purpose, 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) was incorporated into poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofiber, and coated onto metal stents. Their efficacy was assessed in PDT towards HuCC-T1 CC cells. METHODS Fabrication of ALA-PVA nanofiber, and simult...

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanocomposite films with sorghum starch nanocrystals (SSN) were prepared by incorporating various concentrations of SSN in PVA. SSN was isolated using acid hydrolysis of sorghum starch. The morphological studies of SSN using atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealed that the particle size varied from 65 nm to 68 nm. The mechanical properties of PVA-SSN nanocomposite films i...

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofibres were obtained by electrospinning of PVA/water solutions. Formation of beaded fibres combined with decreased fibre diameters was observed for low PVA concentrations. Electrospinning of blends of PVA of different molecular weight resulted in less bead formation and smaller fibre diameters as compared to corresponding homopolymers of similar viscosity.