Archive for the ‘Polymers’ tag
‘Intelligent’ materials provide living interface for surgical implants
A team of researchers led by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), has received a Medical Futures Innovation Award for its high technology process designed to coat surgical implants with fibres that, for the first time, will encourage the implant to ‘bond’ with living bone and to last the lifetime of the patient.
This advanced nano technology technique builds on an existing technique known as electrospinning, and will utilise a vastly superior electrospinning source to create bespoke fibrous materials. Electrospinning is a process that uses an electrical charge to turn polymers into extremely thin fibres that are ‘spun’ to form a mat of fine fibres. It is seen as a platform technology for the medical sector with a wide range of applications including tissue regeneration and drug delivery. The Micro-Nano Technology Centre (MNTC) has developed systems to increase the production rate of nanofibres which has been previously prevented this technology from being adopted by industry.
Read more on: Bio Tech, bone, electrospinning, fibres, implant, nanostructures, Polymers, Science and Technology Facilities CouncilBiodegradable polymers improve inflammation treatment
A family of biodegradable polymers called polyketals and their derivatives may improve treatment for inflammatory illnesses such as acute lung injury, acute liver failure and inflammatory bowel disease by delivering drugs, proteins and snips or ribonucleric acid to disease locations in the body.
Niren Murthy, Georgia Tech and Emory University, explained: “The polyketal microparticles we developed are simply a vehicle to get the drugs inside the body to the drugs inside the body to the diseased area as quickly as possible.
“The major advantage to using these polyketals to deliver drugs is that they degrade in biocompatible compounds that don’t accumulate in a patient’s tissue or cause additional inflammation.”
Read more on: Bio Tech, Polymers‘Crispy noodle’ polymers could reduce carbon emissions
A new material with a structure resembling crispy noodles, could help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide being pumped out and drive the next generation of high-performance hydrogen cars.
Dr Peter Budd, a materials chemist working in the Organic Materials Innovation Centre (OMIC) at The University of Manchester, has won £150,000 worth of new funding to explore the use of a special polymer to effectively remove CO2 as it’s emitted from fossil fuel power stations or hydrogen production plants.
The 18 month study, which is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), will look at the feasibility of using catalytic membrane systems to capture and recover carbon dioxide.
Dr Budd will explore the potential of composite membranes made from a ‘polymer of intrinsic microporosity’, or PIM, and a synthetic catalyst, and hopes to make progress towards creating a unique and highly efficient double membrane system that can be used for both CO2 removal and CO2 recovery.
Read more on: carbon dioxide, CO2, Design, material, polymer, polymer of intrinsic microporosity, Polymers, The University of Manchester