In this research, an electrically polarized graphene-polylactic acid (E-GRP) spacer is introduced for the first time by a novel fabrication method, which consists of 3D printing followed electrical polarization under high voltage electric field (1.5 kV/cm). The fabricated E-GRP was tested in osmotic-driven process (forward osmosis system) to evaluate its performance terms water flux, reverse so...

Gold nanospheres coated with a binary monolayer of bound citrate and cysteine ligands were assembled into nanoclusters, in which the size and near-infrared (NIR) extinction were tuned by varying the pH and concentration of added NaCl. During full evaporation of an aqueous dispersion of 4.5 ± 1.8 nm Au primary particles, the nanoclusters were formed and quenched by the triblock copolymer polylac...

Lignocellulosic biomass (Moso Bamboo, Chinese tallow tree wood, switchgrass, and pine wood) was subjected to a novel delignification process using microwave energy in a binary glycerol/methanol solvent. The physicochemical properties of the recovered lignin were analyzed prior to its application in the fabrication of polylactic acid (PLA)–lignin composites. The results showed that the samples h...

This study concerns the encapsulation and controlled release of both hydrophobic and hydrophilic medications with one polymer, which are delivered together as a combined therapy to treat diseased tissue. To test our hypothesis that the novel PEG-graft-PLA (PEG, polyethylene glycol; PLA, polylactic acid) can deliver both the hydrophobic and hydrophilic medications on account of its amphiphility,...

In this work, the presence of biodegradable polymers in recycled plastic materials was characterized using readily available techniques. Recycled polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) were studied. The contamination these plastics with polylactic acid (PLA), polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) thermoplastic starch (TPS) simulated 10 wt.% contaminant. Fourier transform ...

A new class of biobased composites with tailorable mechanical properties made natural fibers, polylactic acid, and ferulic acid derivatives (FAD) is studied. FAD was used to develop elastomeric like improved elongation at break highly reversible deformation upon elongation. Composites were prepared using raw enzymatically treated hemp fibers. The fibers defibrillated due the enzymatic treatment...

Due to its biodegradable and bioabsorbable characteristics polylactic acid (PLA) has attracted considerable attention for numerous biomedical applications. Moreover, a number of tissue engineering problems for function restoration of impaired tissues have been addressed by using PLA and its copolymers due to their biocompatibility and distinctive mechanical properties. Recent studies on various...

There is need for bioplastics to replace some of the total petroleum plastics used in the world, and help alleviate environmental pollution. Compounding bioplastics with Polyethylene (PE) or Polylactic acid (PLA) containing a dairy-based bioplastic resulted in composites with good mechanical properties. In this study, mass ratios of a dairy-protein-based material (DBP) ranging from 0, 5, 10 and...

In most cases, plant containers used in the horticulture industry are not reusable, have many negative impacts on environment, and take a long time to degrade. To reduce use of non-biodegradable containers, bio-degradable been developed for industry. However, full potential sustainability is yet be completely explored. Therefore, two novel biodegradable this research effectively contribute sust...

The 3D variable–stiffness structure can realize shape programming, reconstruction, adaptation, and locking, therefore, it has a wide design creation space. Accurate local stiffness control is of considerable significance to the application structures although challenging. Herein, realization scheme based on patterned heating network introduced. laser-engraving 3D-printing technologies are combi...