Extremely high mechanical performance spun bionanocomposite fibers of chitosan (CHI), and cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) were successfully achieved by gel spinning of CHI aqueous viscous formulations filled with CNFs. The microstructural characterization of the fibers by X-ray diffraction revealed the crystallization of the CHI polymer chains into anhydrous chitosan allomorph. The spinning process combining acidic–basic–neutralization–stretching–drying steps allowed obtaining CHI/CNF composite fibers of high crystallinity, with enhanced effect at incorporating the CNFs. Chitosan crystallization seems to be promoted by the presence of cellulose nanofibers, serving as nucleation sites for the growing of CHI crystals. Moreover, the preferential orientation of both CNFs and CHI crystals along the spun fiber direction was revealed in the two-dimensional X-ray diffraction patterns. By increasing the CNF amount up to the optimum concentration of 0.4 wt % in the viscous CHI/CNF collodion, Young’s modulus of the spun fibers significantly increased up to 8 GPa. Similarly, the stress at break and the yield stress drastically increased from 115 to 163 MPa, and from 67 to 119 MPa, respectively, by adding only 0.4 wt % of CNFs into a collodion solution containing 4 wt % of chitosan. The toughness of the CHI-based fibers thereby increased from 5 to 9 MJ.m−3. For higher CNFs contents like 0.5 wt %, the high mechanical performance of the CHI/CNF composite fibers was still observed, but with a slight worsening of the mechanical parameters, which may be related to a minor disruption of the CHI matrix hydrogel network constituting the collodion and gel fiber, as precursor state for the dry fiber formation. Finally, the rheological behavior observed for the different CHI/CNF viscous collodions and the obtained structural, thermal and mechanical properties results revealed an optimum matrix/filler compatibility and interface when adding 0.4 wt % of nanofibrillated cellulose (CNF) into 4 wt % CHI formulations, yielding functional bionanocomposite fibers of outstanding mechanical properties.
The production of plastic materials in 2016 was approximately 280 million tons, of which about 75% were disposed of in landfills. The constant accumulation of this type of waste has caused negative impacts on flora and fauna due to its low biodegradability. As an alternative to this complex problem, this work proposes the formulation of biopolymer mixtures based on polylactic acid (PLA) and native starch, as a viable option to minimize the impact caused by conventional plastics.
Las pandemias son consideradas como un problema emergente de salud pública a nivel mundial, las cuales además de caracterizarse por tasas altas de morbilidad y mortalidad, ocasionan conflictos en los aspectos sociales, económicos y políticos. Las herramientas biotecnológicas, por su parte, han ido evolucionando conforme al avance tecnológico-científico, lo que ha permitido optimizar métodos de diagnóstico con alta sensibilidad y especificidad, además de mejorar el desarrollo de productos biológicos para la prevención y terapia de enfermedades. El objetivo de esta revisión es identificar la actualización de las herramientas biotecnológicas en el diagnóstico, tratamiento terapéutico y profiláctico frente a los patógenos causantes de las enfermedades pandémicas a lo largo de la historia, mediante la recopilación de información científica. Con este estudio se logró establecer que las herramientas y productos de origen biotecnológico han constituido un papel fundamental en el control de pandemias a través de la innovación constante que ha permitido alcanzar resultados eficientes tanto en diagnóstico como en el tratamiento.
This research evaluates achira starch modification via gamma radiation, chemical modification and the subsequent adhesives formulation. Native starch was irradiated using a linear accelerator; the mean dose rate used was 19.5 kGy/min at ambient temperature and normal pressure. The chemical modification of irradiated starch consisted of a hydrolysis process, followed by the obtention of carbamates from the hydrolyzed starch with urea, sulphuric acid and ethanol. In order to prepare adhesives; native, modified and dual-modified starches were tested in different proportions with a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution. Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis showed all modified starches had a lower intensity in the band between 1100 and 900 cm-1 due to the damage in the glycosidic bonds. Only single modified starches evidenced a characteristic band at 1715 cm-1, which corresponds to the group carbonyl (C=O) of carbamates. The viscosity of native starch adhesives increased with the starch-PVA, unlike, single and dual-modified starch adhesives. The shear bond strength did not change significantly in the adhesives formulated either with starch modified by urea or electron beam irradiation. The combination of hydrolysis with gamma radiation caused strong damage in the starch structure. However, despite the molecular destruction of polysaccharide, the adhesion capacity for non-irradiated starches is similar in all cases.
Se prepararon mezclas ácido poliláctico (PLA) – almidón de achira empleando polivinil alcohol (PVA) y glicerol como compatibilizante y plastificante, respectivamente. Las mezclas fueron caracterizadas en términos de espectroscopia infrarroja por transformadas de Fourier (FTIR), calorimetría diferencial de barrido (DSC), y propiedades mecánicas. Las superficies de fractura obtenidas del ensayo de tensión fueron evaluadas por medio de microscopía electrónica de barrido (SEM). Adicionalmente, se determinó la biodegradabilidad de las mezclas por medio de ensayos en suelo natural, vermicomposteo, así como también en condiciones aerobias y anaerobias. De acuerdo con los resultados, el PVA incrementó la resistencia a la tensión, elongación a la rotura y produjo una disminución en el módulo de Young. Las imágenes SEM exhibieron superficies rugosas con gránulos de almidón. Adicionalmente, los resultados de DSC evidenciaron un solo valor de Tg, muy cercana a la Tg de los componentes solos; en tanto que los espectros FTIR sugirieron la presencia de enlace hidrógeno entre PLA y almidón. Finalmente, los resultados de vermicomposteo revelaron un alto nivel de degradación de las mezclas PLA – almidón de achira.
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