INTRODUCTION Acrylic resins containing acrylic acid (AA), methyl methacrylate (MMA) or acrylic–methacrylic copolymer are the most commonly used polymeric materials for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications owing to their hydrophilicity and biocompatibility.1–4 Recently, a new polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) copolymer designed by copolymerizing AA and MMA with PVA was successfully developed as a ca...

This Article contains typographical errors. In the Results section under subheading 'Nanotube-based compact all-fiber triple-wavelength laser sys-tem' , " The dispersion parameter of these three CFBGs is ~2.2 ps 2 /cm with the length of ~10 mm " should read: " The dispersion parameter of these three CFBGs is − 2.2 ps 2 /cm with the length of ~10 mm ". In addition, " Fig. 1(d) shows the absorpti...

Poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers were incorporated into cross-linked poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) matrix to improve carbon dioxide (CO2) separation performance at elevated pressures. In our previous studies, PAMAM/PVA hybrid membranes showed high CO2 separation properties from CO2/H2 mixed gases. In this study, three types of organic Ti metal compounds were selected as PVA cross-linkers that we...

Functional modification of PVA or introducing reactive functional groups into the polymer chain has been believed to have basic significance while expanding its application. Phosphorous containing nitrogen heterocyclic compounds have been synthesized. The synthesized compounds were characterized using FTIR, NMR spectral studies. Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) display that organophosphorous-N...

Photoactive polyvinyl alcohol hydrogels (PVA) have been investigated for use as tissue engineering scaffolds. These materials allow in situ polymerization for minimally invasive implantation methods. The mechanical properties of these materials can be tailored for a variety of soft tissue applications. The Young's modulus and ultimate tensile strength of PVA hydrogels are increased with increas...

Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) fibers have been extensively studied for various applications. In this work, PLLA and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) were prepared by coelectrospinning to form composite nonwoven materials. The structures and diameter distribution of the electrospun PLLA/PVA composite nonwovens were examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electronic microscope (SEM). The wet...

From several polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-utilizing mixed cultures, two component bacterial strains essential for PVA utilization were isolated, and their properties and roles in PVA utilization were studied. Each pair of essential component strains consisted of a type I strain, which produced a PVA-degrading enzyme and constituted the predominant population of the mixed culture in PVA, and a type I...

Hydrogels composed of N-quaternized chitosan (NQC) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) in different weight ratios (1:3), (1:1) and (3:1) chemically crosslinked by glutaraldehyde in different weight ratios – 1.0 and 5.0% – have been prepared. The prepared hydrogels were characterized via several analysis tools such as: Fourier transform IR (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope ...

The mechanical properties of high-strength ductile concrete (HSDC) have been investigated using Metakaolin (MK) as the cement replacing material and PVA fibers. Total twenty-seven (27) mixes of concrete have been examined with varying content of MK and PVA fibers. It has been found that the coarser type PVA fibers provide strengths competitive to control or higher than control. Concrete with co...