The invention of Nylon‐6/clay nanocomposites by the Toyota Research Group of Japan heralded a new chapter in the field of polymer composites. This article highlights the work done in the field of rubber/clay nanocomposites. The preparations of rubber/clay nanocomposites by solution blending, latex compounding, and melt intercalation are covered and a thorough discussion of the mechanical properties of the various rubber/clay nanocomposite systems is presented. Other properties such as barrier, dynamic mechanical behavior, and thermal properties are also discussed. Finally, the future trends in the rubber/clay nanocomposites are mentioned. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 47:1956–1974, 2007. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers
Bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein incorporated with hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by in situ precipitation process. 2 mol% Zn 2+ and Mg 2+ were used as dopants to synthesize Zn 2+ /Mg 2+ doped HA-BSA NPs by in situ synthesis route. In our study we used BSA as a model protein. The amount of BSA uptake by doped and undoped HA NPs and subsequent release of BSA from NPs were investigated. Zn doped HA NPs showed the highest amount of BSA uptake, whereas the amount of BSA loaded in undoped HA NPs was the lowest. A two-stage BSA release profile from doped and undoped HA NPs was observed in phosphate buffer solution (PBS) at pH 7.2 ± 0.2. Initial burst release was due to the desorption of BSA from the HA surface. The later stage of slow release was controlled by the dissolution of BSA incorporated HA NPs. BSA release rate from Zn doped HA NPs was found to be the highest, whereas undoped HA NPs released BSA at the slowest rate. Our study showed that the protein release rate from HA NPs can be controlled by the addition of suitable dopants and doped HA based NP systems can be used in bone growth factor and drug release study. KeywordsNanoparticles; Hydroxyapatite; Dopant; Bovine serum albumin; Protein release IntroductionIn the recent years there has been increasing interest in inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) as carriers for macromolecules such as proteins, vaccines, and drugs. Numerous studies have shown that NPs can not only improve the resistance of therapeutic agents against enzymatic degradation, but also provide the possibility of transporting biomolecules to specific tissues, cells, and cell compartments in a controlled manner with a minimal invasive procedure. [1,3] Inorganic NPs have some potential advantages over other polymeric nanoparticulate based carrier systems, because of their low susceptibility to immune response as compared to viral vectors, low toxicity as opposed to organic NPs, and resistance to lipases and bile salts unlike liposomes.Among the inorganic NPs, hydroxyapatite (HA) has attracted much attention as a carrier for biomolecules because of its excellent biocompatibility and bioactivity. For orthopedic applications, porous HA-based implants infiltrated with bioactive agents or drugs have been reported. [4][5] However, limited surface area and unpredictable bioresorbability of HA implant have been the issues that remain to be resolved for the development of a controlled drug carrier system. In the past decade, these problems have been addressed in some research efforts directed towards the synthesis of HA micro or nano-carriers delivering antibiotics and growth factors with controlled release kinetics. Jntema et al. employed HA microcrystals as microcarriers to load bovine serum albumin (BSA) of 5-10 wt.% and concluded that these can NIH Public Access After washing, all the powders were dried at room temperature and stored in a freezer at −10°C.All the supernatants after every washing were collected and analyzed for concentration of BSA using a BCA protein assa...
Despite excellent bioactivity of hydroxyapatite (HA) ceramics, poor mechanical strength has limited its applications primarily to coatings and other non-load bearing areas as bone grafts. Using synthesized HA nanopowder, dense compacts with grain sizes in nanometers to micrometers were processed via microwave sintering between 1000 and 1150 °C for 20 minutes. Here we demonstrate that mechanical properties, such as compressive strength, hardness and indentation fracture toughness of HA compacts increased with a decrease in grain size. HA with 168± 86 nm grain size showed the highest compressive strength of 395±42 MPa, hardness of 8.4±0.4 GPa and indentation fracture toughness of 1.9 ±0.2 MPam1/2. To study the in vitro biological properties, HA compacts with grain size between 168 nm and 1.16 µm were assessed for in vitro bone cell-materials interactions with human osteoblast cell line. Vinculin protein expression for cell attachment and bone cell proliferation using MTT assay showed surfaces with finer grains provided better bone cell-materials interactions than coarse grained samples. Our results indicate simultaneous improvements in mechanical and biological properties in microwave sintered HA compacts with nanoscale grain size.
The aim of the present study was to prepare and characterize bioglass-natural biopolymer based composite scaffold and evaluate its bone regeneration ability. Bioactive glass nanoparticles (58S) in the size range of 20–30 nm were synthesized using sol-gel method. Porous scaffolds with varying bioglass composition from 10 to 30 wt% in chitosan, gelatin matrix were fabricated using the method of freeze drying of its slurry at 40 wt% solids loading. Samples were cross-linked with glutaraldehyde to obtain interconnected porous 3D microstructure with improved mechanical strength. The prepared scaffolds exhibited >80% porosity with a mean pore size range between 100 and 300 microns. Scaffold containing 30 wt% bioglass (GCB 30) showed a maximum compressive strength of 2.2 ± 0.1 MPa. Swelling and degradation studies showed that the scaffold had excellent properties of hydrophilicity and biodegradability. GCB 30 scaffold was shown to be noncytotoxic and supported mesenchymal stem cell attachment, proliferation, and differentiation as indicated by MTT assay and RUNX-2 expression. Higher cellular activity was observed in GCB 30 scaffold as compared to GCB 0 scaffold suggesting the fact that 58S bioglass nanoparticles addition into the scaffold promoted better cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation. Thus, the study showed that the developed composite scaffolds are potential candidates for regenerating damaged bone tissue.
Calcium phosphate (CaP) nanoparticle with calcium to phosphorus (Ca:P) molar ratio of 1.5:1 were synthesized using reverse micro emulsion. Ca(NO3)2.4H2O and H3PO4 were used as aqueous phase, cyclohexane as organic phase, and poly(oxyethylene)12 nonylphenol ether (NP-12) as surfactant. Depending on calcination temperature between 600 and 800 °C, CaP nanoparticle showed different phases calcium deficient hydroxyapatite (CDHA) and β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP), particle size between 48 and 69 nm, the BET specific average surface area between 73 m2/g and 57 m2/g. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as a model protein to study loading and release behavior. Adsorptive property of BSA was investigated with the change in BET surface area of these nanoparticle and the pH of the suspension. At pH 7.5, maximum amount of BSA was adsorbed onto CaP nanoparticle. The release kinetics of BSA showed a gradual time dependent increase at pH 4.0 and 6.0 buffer solutions. However, the amount of released protein was significantly smaller at pH 7.2. BSA release rate also varied depending on the presence of different phases of CaPs in the system, β-TCP or CDHA. These results suggest that BSA protein release rate can be controlled by changing particle size, surface area and phase composition of CaP nanocarriers.
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