A wide range of diverse polyhydroxyalkanoates, PHAs, is currently available due to the low substrate specificity of PHA synthases and subsequent modifications by chemical reactions. These polymers are promising materials for a number of different applications due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability. This review summarizes the large variability of PHAs regarding chemical structure and material properties that can be currently produced. In the first part, in vivo and in vitro biosynthesis processes for production of a large variety of different PHAs will be summarized with regard to obtaining saturated and unsaturated copolyesters and side chain functionalized polyesters, including brominated, hydroxylated, methyl-branched polyesters, and phenyl derivatives of polyesters. In the second part, established chemical modifications of PHAs will be summarized as that by means of grafting reactions and graft/block copolymerizations, as well as by chlorination, cross-linking, epoxidation, hydroxylation, and carboxylation, reactions yield further functionalized PHAs.

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Peroxidation, epoxidation, and/or perepoxidation reactions of soybean oil under air at room temperature resulted in cross-linked polymeric soybean oil peroxides on the surface along with the waxy soluble part, sPSB, with a molecular weight of 4690, containing up to 2.3 wt % peroxide. This soluble polymeric oil peroxide, sPSB, initiated the free radical polymerization of either methyl methacrylate (MMA) or n-butyl methacrylate (nBMA) to give PSB-g-PMMA and PSB-g-PnBMA graft copolymers. The polymers obtained were characterized by (1)H NMR, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and gel permeation chromatography techniques. Polymeric oil as a plasticizer lowered the glass transition of the PSB-g-PMMA graft copolymers. PSB-g-PMMA and PSB-g-PnBMA graft copolymer film samples were also used in cell culture studies. Fibroblast and macrophage cells were strongly adhered and spread on the copolymer film surfaces, which is important in tissue engineering. Bacterial adhesion on PSB-g-PMMA graft copolymer was also studied. Both Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coli adhered on the graft copolymer better than on homo-PMMA. Furthermore, the latter adhered much better than the former.

Objective The aim of the present study was to evaluate the mechanical and thermal characteristics of two denture base acrylic resins containing silver nanoparticles (AgNPs).Material and Methods Two different acrylic denture base resins (heat-polymerized and microwave polymerized) containing 0.3, 0.8 and 1.6 wt% AgNPs were evaluated for flexural strength, elastic modulus and impact strength. The glass transition temperature (Tg) and relative heat capacity (Cp) of the samples were determined from the Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) results. For statistical analysis, two-way ANOVA and Tukey-HSD tests were performed.Results Addition of 0.8% and 1.6% AgNPs in microwave-polymerized resin significantly decreased the transverse strength and elastic modulus. In terms of impact strength, the addition of AgNPs has no effect on both resin groups. Glass transition temperature (Tg) was decreased with the addition of AgNPs for both denture base resins.Conclusions The incorporation of AgNPs, generally used for antimicrobial efficiency, affected the transverse strength of the denture base acrylic resins depending on the concentration of nanoparticles. Tg was decreased with the addition of AgNPs for both denture base resins.

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