Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-montmorillonite (MMT) clay nanocomposite films up to 10 wt% clay concentration were synthesized by aqueous solution grown technique. The relative complex dielectric function, alternating current electrical conductivity, electric modulus and impedance properties of these organic-inorganic nanocomposites were investigated in the frequency range from 20 Hz to 1 MHz at amb...

Almost general poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) films were prepared by the processing of a PVA solution. For the first time, a novel poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) film was prepared by the saponification of a poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) film in a heterogenous medium. Under the same saponification conditions, the influence of saponification time on the degree of saponification (DS) was studied for the prepar...

Vitamin A deficiency remains one of the world's major public health problems despite food fortification and supplements strategies. Biofortification of staple crops with enhanced levels of pro-vitamin A (PVA) offers a sustainable alternative strategy to both food fortification and supplementation. As a proof of concept, PVA-biofortified transgenic Cavendish bananas were generated and field tria...

The anticancer drug cisplatin was encapsulated within the cucurbit[7]uril macrocycle to form the host-guest complex: cisplatin@CB[7]. This was then incorporated into gelatin and 0-4% w/v polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based hydrogels as slow release drug delivery vehicles. The hydrogels demonstrated predicable swelling and disintegration dependent on the PVA concentration. The hydrogel with the highes...

Although propofol is commonly used for general anesthesia, its direct effects on left ventricular (LV) contractility and energetics remain unknown. Accordingly, we studied the effects of intracoronary propofol on excised cross-circulated canine hearts using the framework of the Emax (a contractility index)-PVA (systolic pressure-volume area, a measure of total mechanical energy)-V(O2) (myocardi...

Tailoring the interface interactions between a biomaterial and the surrounding tissue is a capital aspect to consider for the design of medical devices. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels present suitable mechanical properties for various biological substitutes, however the lack of cell adhesion on their surface is often a problem. The common approach is to incorporate biomolecules, either by ...

Nacre is characterized by its excellent mechanical performance due to the well-recognized "brick and mortar" structure. Many efforts have been applied to make nacre-mimicking materials, but it is still a big challenge to realize their continuous production. Here, we prepared sandwich-like building blocks of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-coated graphene, and achieved high-nanofiller-content kilomete...

magnesium hydroxide nanostructures as an effective flame retardant were synthesized by a facile and rapid microwave reaction. the effect of different surfactants such as cationic, anionic and polymeric on the morphology of magnesium hydroxide nanostructures was investigated. nanostructures were characterized by x-ray diffraction (xrd), scanning electron microscopy (sem) and fourier transform in...

Carbon nanomaterials such as multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene oxide (GO) have been functionalized by highly hydrophilic and biocompatible poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) for loading and delivery of an anticancer drug, camptothecin (CPT). For the first time, CPT was loaded onto MWCNT-PVA and GO-PVA through π-π interactions and its capability to kill human breast and skin cancer cells...

BACKGROUND Ischemic mitral regurgitation (MR) results from displacement of the papillary muscles caused by ischemic ventricular distortion. Progressive left ventricular (LV) remodeling has challenged therapy. Our hypothesis is that repositioning of the papillary muscles can be achieved by injection of polyvinyl-alcohol (PVA) hydrogel polymer into the myocardium in chronic MR despite advanced LV...