Yangling Li¹, Zhengrong Li¹, Hui Yu¹, Gang Huang¹, Xiaopeng Pei², Kun Xu^2,*, Pixin Wang², Ying Tan^3,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.9, No.8, pp. 1365-1376, 2021, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.014909

Abstract In this work, the –catechol and –thiol modified starch was prepared by the esterification and amino condensation reaction, then a fully starch based hydrogel was prepared via the thiol-catechol Michael addition reaction. The starch hydrogel gained shape memory behaviors by coordinate with Fe³⁺ ions at alkaline condition. ¹ H-NMR had been used to character the structure of the starch derivatives and its character peaks. The hydrogel’s modulus had also been measured before and after coordinating with Fe³⁺ ions in linear area and the result showed that both the hydrogel’s storage modulus and loss modulus kept constant in linear area from… More >

Zheng Cao^1,2,3,4,*, Yang Zhang², Keming Luo², Yinqiu Wu², Hongxin Gao², Junfeng Cheng^2,*, Chunlin Liu^2,3, Guoliang Tao², Qingbao Guan¹, Lei Zhang⁵

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.9, No.8, pp. 1447-1462, 2021, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.015593

Abstract

The preparation and application of functional hydrogels based on natural polysaccharides have always been a hot research topic. In this study, using acrylamide (AM) monomer, N, N'-methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) as cross-linking agent, potassium persulfate (K₂S₂O₈) as initiator, in the presence of natural polysaccharide sodium alginate (SA), the PAM/SA hydrogel was prepared by free radical polymerization. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), swelling performance tests, scanning electron microscope (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), UV-visible spectrophotometer, mechanical property measurements were carried out to analyze the composition, morphology, and performance of the hydrogels. The swelling behavior, dye adsorption performance, and the mechanical properties of PAM/SA… More >

Haiwei Ren¹, Li Wang¹, Hui Bao¹, Yunya Xia¹, Dada Xu¹, Weijie Zhang^1,*, Zhiye Wang²

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.8, No.10, pp. 1343-1355, 2020, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2020.010903

Abstract A series of hydrogels with different ratios of chitosan and licorice polysaccharide (LP) were prepared by crosslinking to different concentrations of genipin (gp). They were characterized by FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), SEM (Scanning electron microscope), swelling ratio, rheological measurements, degradation with time, cytotoxicity, and antibacterial efficacy. Results show that the hydrogels have porous structures. With an increase in LP content, the swelling rate grows in the early stage of immersion in buffer and drops later. The swelling ratio ranged from 986% to 1677%, and stiffness varied from 777 Pa to 1792 Pa. The addition of LP reduced the mechanical… More >

Tao Li¹, Qingsheng Yang^{1, *}, Lianhua Ma², Xiaojun Zhang^{2, *}

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.123, No.3, pp. 995-1014, 2020, DOI:10.32604/cmes.2020.09152

Abstract Phase transition of hydrogel, which is polymerized by polymer network, can be regarded as the transition of polymer network stability. The stability of the polymer network might be changed when the external environment changed. This change will lead to the transformation of sensitive hydrogels stability, thus phase transition of hydrogel take place. Here, we present a new free density energy function, which considers the non-gaussianity of the polymer network, chains entanglement and functionality of junctions through adding Gent hyplastic model and Edwards-Vilgis slip-link model to Flory-Huggins theory. A program to calculate the phase transition temperature was written based on new… More >

Xiaodong Wang^1,2, Meng Su², Chuntai Liu², Changyu Shen², Xianhu Liu^2,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.8, No.1, pp. 89-99, 2020, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2020.08493

Abstract Poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposites is prepared by the immersion of PVA/graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposites in the reducing agent aqueous solution. The PVA/graphene nanocomposites can be used as scaffold after treatment by chemical crosslinking agents. The surface hydrophilicity of the nanocomposite scaffolds decreased with the addition of GO or rGO by measuring the contact angles of scaffolds. The electrical conductivity of PVA/rGO nanocomposite scaffold increased with rGO content increased. The highest conductivity of PVA/rGO nanocomposite scaffolds with 10 wt% rGO could reach to 12.16 × 10⁻³ S/m. The NIH-3T3 fibroblasts attach and grow well on the surface… More >

Malika Talantikite^1,*, Antoine Gourlay¹, Sophie Le Gall¹, Bernard Cathala¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.12, pp. 1381-1390, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.07838

Abstract Plant components are an inexhaustible source for the construction of bio-based materials. Here we report, for the first time, the elaboration of biobased cellulose nanocrystals (CNC)/xyloglucan (XG) hydrogels. XG is a hemicellulose displaying a great affinity for cellulose surface and can be thus irreversibly adsorbed on CNC. Properties of the hydrogels were investigated by varying the molar mass of XG either by enzymatic treatment with Endoglucanase (EG2) or physical fractionation by ultrasound (US). Fractions were characterised by high-performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) and their monosacchari decompositions were determined. Three fractions with high, average and small molar mass, (800, 300 and… More >

Xiaoliang Zhao^1,#, Yuting Wang^1,#, Xiuying Pu¹, Jianzhong Ma¹, Feifan Leng¹, Yonggang Wang¹, Yanling Wang¹, Shuhong Yang¹, Fen Ran², Weijie Zhang^1,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.12, pp. 1321-1332, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.07757

Abstract A series of the Guiqi polysaccharides/chitosan/alginate composite hydrogel microspheres (GPcM) with different particle sizes were prepared with Guiqi polysaccharides (GP), chitosan (CS) and sodium alginate (Alg). The optimum preparation process was also determined by single factor and orthogonal experiment analysis. The GPcM were characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), drug loading efficiency test (LE), encapsulation efficiency test (EE) and in vitro release study. The results showed that the Guiqi polysaccharides chitosan hydrogel (GPCH) and sodium alginate hydrogel (SAH) formed a crossover system in GPcM. The GPcM have a uniform particle size ranging from 395.1μm to… More >

González FM, DR Pérez

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.86, pp. 332-339, 2017, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2017.86.332

Abstract The Argentine arid Patagonia, in general, and ‘La Payunia’ ecosystem in particular, are important areas for conservation due to the high number of endemic species. However, this region presents a high level of degradation as a result of human activities. Thus, ecological rehabilitation strategies need to be implemented to recover certain areas. The main objectives of this study were to (1) evaluate the reintroduction of two selected native species in severely degraded areas, and (2) determine if the survival and growth of an endemic shrub species, Senna arnottiana, increase when it is associated with a perennial grass, Pappostipa speciosa. These… More >

Ying Li¹, Bin Xue², Wenxu Sun², Junhua Wu², Wenting Yu², Meng Qin², Wei Wang², Yi Cao^2,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.16, Suppl.2, pp. 147-147, 2019, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2019.07027

Abstract A key challenge in biomaterials research is to produce synthetic hydrogels that can replicate the diverse mechanical properties of the naturally occurring tissues for various biomedical applications, including tissue engineering, stem cell and cancer research, cell therapy, and immunomodulation. However, currently, the methods that can be used to control the mechanical properties of hydrogels are very limited and are mainly focused only on the elasticity of hydrogels. In this work, combining single molecule force spectroscopy, protein engineering and theoretical modeling, we show that synthetic protein hydrogels with predictable mechanical properties can be rationally designed using protein building blocks with known… More >

Pan Zhang^1,2, Chen Zhang^1,2, Jiyang Han^1,2, Xiru Liu^1,2, Qishan Wang³, Hui Yang^1,2,4,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.16, Suppl.2, pp. 132-132, 2019, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2019.06839

Abstract Research in stem cell biology relies on the knowledge of the cell microenvironment in vivo, known as “stem cell niche”, where stem cells are nurtured by the niche signals. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are capable of continuously generating and maintaining the body’s full immune and hematopoietic systems. In adult, a pool of hematopoietic cells, including HSCs, primarily reside in the bone marrow (BM) niches that plays critical roles on cell fate. Niche supporting cells, cytokines, extracellular matrix proteins and other biochemical cues associated with HSCs behaviors (quiescence, self-renewal, proliferation, differentiation, mobilization, homing, and apoptosis) has been revealed in quantity. Recently… More >