The article presents a new concept for vascular endoprothesis (stent). Almost all commercially available stents are made of metallic materials. A common after effect of stent implantation is restenosis. Several studies on metal stents coated with drug show, that the use of a drug delivery system may reduce restenosis. The purpose of this work is to develop a new stent for the drug delivery application. The shape memory properties of thermoplastic polyurethane allow to design a new fully polymeric self-expandable stent. The possibility to use the stent as a drug delivery system is described.

Rice straw (Rs)/polypropylene (PP) composites were prepared in the different ratio of 5 : 95, 10 : 90, 15 : 85, 20 : 80, 25 : 75, and 30 : 70 (Rs wt % : PP wt %) by an injection molding process. This work investigated the tensile strength (TS), bending strength (BS), and impact strength (IS) of the composites. From the results, it is observed that Rs20 : PP80 mixture composite showed better performance with mechanical properties (TS ¼ 26.2 MPa, BS ¼ 58 N/mm 2 , and IS ¼ 1.7 KJ/mm 2 ) among the composites prepared. Two hybrid composites were also fabricated using 20% Rs, 10% seaweed with 70% PP and 20% Rs, 30% seaweed with 70% PP. In between the two hybrid composites, superior mechanical behavior showed by the hybrid composite in ratio of Rs20 : Sw10 : PP70 with enhanced results such as TS ¼ 28 MPa, BS ¼ 68 N/ mm 2 , and IS ¼ 2.5 KJ/mm 2 . Water uptake, simulating weathering, and soil degradation test of different composites were also performed.

Tea dust (TD) polypropylene (PP) biocomposites and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA)‐grafted PP (GMA‐g‐PP) were manufactured using Brabender (PL‐2000, Plasti‐Corder, Germany) and hot press machine. The effects of fiber loading and the role of compatibilizer like maleic anhydride‐grafted PP (MAH‐g‐PP) and GMA‐g‐PP on morphology and physicomechanical properties of the TD‐reinforced PP biocomposites were investigated. On preliminary observation, it is found that the tensile strength of the biocomposites increased with increasing fiber content and presence of the compatibilizer at a certain limit. Scanning electron microscopic studies revealed that the dispersion of fiber in the matrix became worse with increasing fiber content but improved with addition of compatibilizer. The improved mechanical properties of the biocomposites correspond to the presence of the compatibilizer, which is attributed to interactions between hydroxyl groups in the filler and epoxy groups in GMA‐g‐PP and carboxylic group in MAH‐g‐PP. Swelling properties and biodegradable behavior test of the composites have also been performed. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012

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