BACKGROUND Carbapenem-resistance is an extremely growing medical threat in antibacterial therapy as the incurable resistant strains easily develop a multi-resistance action to other potent antimicrobial agents. Nonetheless, the protective delivery of current antibiotics using nano-carriers opens a tremendous approach in the antimicrobial therapy, allowing the nano-formulated antibiotics to beat...

This paper describes the utilization of Proton-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy ((1)H NMR) to quantify the stoichiometric ratios between poly (ε-caprolactone) [PCL] and α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) present in their non-stoichiometric inclusion complexes [(n-s)-ICs]. This paper further describes the porosity and fiber alignment of PCL nanofibers nucleated by the [(n-s)-ICs] during electrospinnin...

The ability to mimic the structure of the natural extracellular matrix is a successful key for guided bone regeneration (GBR). For the regeneration of highly organized structures such as heart and bone, aligned fibrous membranes could provide anisotropic mechanical and biological properties which are adequate topographic guidance to cells. Here, novel nanofibrous membranes were developed throug...

The aim of this study was to prepare non-woven materials from a biodegradable polymer, poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) by electrospinning. PCL was synthesized by ring-opening polymerization of epsilon-caprolactone in bulk using stannous octoate as the catalyst under nitrogen atmosphere. PCL was then processed into non-woven matrices composed of nanofibers by electrospinning of the polymer from...

We describe the co-electrospraying of hollow microspheres from a polycaprolactone (PCL) shell solution and various core solutions including water, cyclohexane, poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), and polyethylene glycol (PEG), using different collectors. The morphologies of the resultant microspheres were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), confocal microscopy, and nano-X-ray computed ...

We studied the use of cellulose nanocrystals (CNXs) obtained after acid hydrolysis of ramie cellulose fibers to reinforce poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) nanofibers. Chemical grafting with low-molecular-weight PCL diol onto the CNXs was carried out in an attempt to improve the interfacial adhesion with the fiber matrix. Grafting was confirmed via infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analyses....

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are a class of smart poly-meric materials that have the ability to " memorize " a permanent shape, be manipulated to retain or " fix " a temporary shape, and later recover to its original (permanent) shape upon a stimulus such as heat, electricity, or irradiation. 1-3 A large number of SMPs have been developed and utilized for actua-tors, deployable medical devices,...

Abbreviations MEMS Microelectromechanical systems NEMS Nano-electromechanical systems PCL Polycaprolactone PET Polyethylene terephthalate PGA Polyglycolic acid PLA Polylactic acid PU Polyurethane PTFE Poly(tetrafl uoroethylene) PMMA Polymethylmethacrylate UHMWPE Ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene