Sharif Digital Repository

Poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel is a biocompatible material, which has been widely applied in drug delivery applications. Microspheres, nanospheres, and other types of particle-based drug delivery vehicles have proven capacity for long-term release. There is growing interest to overcoming the inherent pharmacological limitations of hydrogels by formulating particulate systems into the hydrogel matrix to form new delivery platforms. We here describe a simple composite system based on poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels containing entrapped drug-loaded poly (lactic acid) (PLA) microspheres for controlled delivery over extended period of time. Gamma-Irradiation and freeze-thawing was... 

In this work, the mechanical behavior of smart hydrogels is studied for temperature sensitive and, pH and temperature sensitive ones. First, an equilibrium model is presented for the temperature sensitive hydrogles which is continuous and numerically stable especially in the vicinity of the phase transition temperature. The model results are validated through comparing them with the experimental data available in the literature. The model results are in good agreement with those of experiments especially for hydrogels with high cross-linking density. Then, the model is implemented in a finite element framework by which some homogeneous and inhomogeneous problems are numerically solved.... 

Double network (DN) hydrogels are a new interpenetrate polymer network (IPN) that are usually contain about 60-90 % water. Despite of this amount of water, they are though and strong. DN hydrogels comprise of two networks, the first one as the brittle gel, is generally high density crosslinked and the second one, the loose and stretchable network, is loosely crosslinked or even without crosslinking. Therefore, we used cationic polymer, chitosan, and anionic polymer, alginate, as the first networks, therefore, we used sodium phosphate for physical crosslinking of chitosan, and calcium chloride as the physical crosslinking agents for alginate network. Also, poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA), as the... 

A novel thermo responsive decorated system is designed by coating Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles with conjugated Pluronic-ATPEG copolymer incorporated into the PEG-PMDA Hydrogel for drug delivery to the cartilage tissue. Grafted copolymer was synthesized by reaction between carboxylated Pluronic and amino terminated Poly ethylene glycol (ATPEG) and confirmed by FTIR and NMR analysis. The magnetic nanoparticles were modified with the produced copolymer and characterized by TEM, HRTEM, XRD, DLS, and VSM. A typical product has 13 nm magnetic core and 105 nm hydrodynamic diameter with narrow size distribution. DLS results showed that there was an increase in size by increasing temperature from 25℃... 

The nucleus pulposus, which is a part of intervertebral disc, is normally hydrated and gel-like to maintain normal biomechanical functions of the disc through intradiscal pressures. In a degenerated disc, however, water content of nucleus is significantly reduced, resulting in an abnormal stress state of the annulus. Surgical interventions cannot restore the biomedical function to vertebral segment. One approach to restore the normal biomechanics of an intervertebral disc is to replace the nucleus with a prosthetic material which leads to a restoration of the behavior of the disc. The mechanical behavior of poly(vinyl alcohol) and nanodiamond hydrogel may provide a material suitable for... 

Wound is a defect or failure in the skin texture which occurs as a result of physical or heat injuries or physiological conditions. The wound dress as a temporary cover can improve wound healing process and due to the unique properties, hydrogels have become appropriate choice for this application. Hydrogel’s structure allows drug to be loaded in the wound dress. Hydrogel wound dress should have adequate fluidity to cover wound’s bed and make full contact with the skin. Sufficient cohesion and strength is also necessary to allow the wound dress to remove from wound completely. Therefore, the study on the viscoelastic properties of hydrogel is important. In this study, polyvinyl alcohol... 

In this work, wool keratin/polyethylene oxide (PEO) nanofibrous scaffolds were fabricated by electrospinning method. Bacterial cellulose nanofibrils (BCNFs) were embedded in the electrospun keratin/PEO nanofibers. Incorporation of BCNFs into the nanofibers enhances their hydrophilicity, mechanical properties and cell viability, adhesion and proliferation. Water contact angle of the nanofibers decreased from 126˚ to 83˚by addition of 1 wt % BCNFs. A thermogelling hydrogel based on carboxylated pluronic (Pl-COOH) and gum tragacanth (GT) was fabricated and polymer conjugation was confirmed by FTIR and H-NMR spectroscopy. Morphological and viscoelastic properties of GT-grafted Pl-COOH hydrogels... 

Lately, a wide application of eco-friendly polysaccharide-based hydrogels in waste water treatment has received enormous attention in the literature. The effluents containing dye materials from the processing industries are washed off into rivers and lakes which can be very harmful to creatures. Low-cost biopolymers and biodegradable adsorbents have been researched to be a good tool to minimize the environmental hazards caused by the industrial effluents by removal of these toxic and carcinogenic dyes from the waste effluents. In this study, an eco-friendly superabsorbent hydrogel was prepared by using of sugarcane bagasse, two hydrophilic monomers, magnetic nanoparticle and methylene... 

Wound healing by engineered scaffolds is a new step in bio-technology and medical studies in recent years. The goal of the current study is to propose a novel structure for a tissue-engineered scaffold to be used in wound healing. Influenced from the multi-layered structure of natural human skin, the fabricated scaffold consists of two layers to maximize similarity with natural skin. This product is comprised of an electrospun layer made of polycaprolactone and polyvinyl alcohol and a hydrogel layer made of chitosan and gelatin. In order to form a porous medium in the hydrogel layer, freeze-gelation was used instead of freeze drying. The evaluation of fabricated scaffolds was performed by... 

The use of super-swelling polymers is steadily increasing and the applications in industry are continuing to grow. With the authorization of the superabsorbents in food packaging by the Food and Drug Administration recently, demand may soon take off in the market. The worldwide production of SAPs is more than one million tons per year, representing a multibillion-dollar market. However, the increase in prices of petroleum products in recent years may be a drawback for these acrylic-based materials. Thus, there is now a need to develop natural-based super-swelling hydrogels which are more economical and environment friendly. In addition, the super-swelling gels are promising novel functions... 

This thesis focuses on the preparation and super-swelling behavior of four highly porous hydrogels: 1. Firstly, we have developed a collagen-based highly porous hydrogel by neutralizing the grafted poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) after gel formation. Systematically, the certain variables of the graft copolymerization were optimized to achieve maximum swelling capacity. Morphology of the samples was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and was shown the pores were induced into the hydrogel by water evaporation resulting from neutralization process. The absorbency under load (AUL) and centrifuge retention capacity (CRC) were measured. The synthesized hydrogel exhibited a... 

Emission of CO2 and its diffusion into atmosphere is associated with negative effects on the environmental such as Green House Gases effect. Various techniques of CO2 Capture in energy conversion and processing plant are investigated. A method of CO2 Capture could be based on utilization of solar energy for producing methanol. Basic design of such a system and feasibility analysis of developing that system has been considered on the subject of the present research work. Basic design and commercial feasibility of the system producing methanol through capturing CO2 from exhaust gases of a power plant and hydrogen produced by using solar energy have done such an integrated system. The main... 

In recent years, many efforts have been made in the field of drug delivery with hydrogel nanoparticles. This class of materials has been at the center of attention in medical science due to their improved physical and biological properties including high amount of water preservation, penetration, bio capampatibility and physical structure similar to outside matrices of tissue. Among various applications in medical sciences, drug delivery based on hydrogels is very attractive. Hydrogels can protect drugs from aggressive environmental factors such as pH and thermal changes, and presence of enzymes. The porosity of hydrogels facilitates drug loading into the gel matrix and provides a... 

Nowadays, water pollution and water sources decreasion, is one of the important issues of our world. Treatment of polluted water and wastewater and recycling of those to industries and common uses, is very necessary. Dyes, is one of the biggest parts of water pollutants, especially, in textile plants. There are some ways for dye removal, in the industries; including biological, chemical and physical methods. Among of these methods, physical removal of dyes through adsorption (with Activated Carbon or other adsorbents), is very popular. Hydrogels are three-dimensional hydrophilic polymer networks, introducing very good swelling rate, mechanical properties and pollutants adsorption. In this... 

Corneal diseases are one of the most common causes of blindness worldwide. The most common way to treat these diseases is to replace the damaged cornea with the donor cornea by corneal transplant. But limitations such as donor tissue deficiency, the risk of disease transmission and transplant rejection have made treatment of these diseases very difficult. A cornea made by tissue engineering can be used as a suitable alternative because of the limitations mentioned for corneal transplantation with donated tissue. At the same time, similarity of the scaffold to normal corneal tissue, both in terms of matrial and structural properties, is essential for proper repair of this scaffold by cells... 

In the past few decades, many attempts have been made to combine the benefits of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts. The immobilization of homogeneous catalysts onto the surface of heterogeneous supports is the result of such efforts. In this research, immobilized heterogeneous catalysts were designed and synthesized based on double network hydrogels, which produce from interpenetrating of two biocompatible and biodegradable polymer networks. In order to provide magnetic responsibility and easy separation of catalyst from the reaction mixture, the magnetic nanoparticles were dispersed onto the surface of double network hydrogel. Finally, various metal nanoparticles such as palladium and... 

Skin tissue as the first protective barrier to the body is always exposed to the most injuries. The purpose of this project is to design an optimum skin scaffold capable of drug delivery for skin wounds healing. To this end, the skin scaffold has been considered as a combination of a hydrogel structure containing polymer microspheres carrying growth factor. Polyvinyl alcohol and sodium alginate polymers were utilized to make the hydrogel substrate. The hydrogel structure was optimized from the viewpoint of the percentage of gelation, water absorption, porosity, mechanical properties, biodegradability, biocompatibility and considering the volume percent of utilized polymers and the... 

In recent years, many efforts have been made in tissue engineering and new methods for the treatment of cartilage damage, with an emphasis on their non-invasive and less aggressive nature. Meanwhile, injectable and in situ forming hydrogels have been considered as a less invasive nature. On the other hand, lack of enough mechanical properties in these hydrogels is one of their main problem. In this study, gelatin and alginate was used to fabricate hydrogel as interpenetrating network (IPN) hydrogel and silica nano particles were also used to increase mechanical properties in the fabricating of hydrogels. Gelatin is also combined with dopamine in order to induce bio adhesive properties of... 

Hydrogels are kind of polymers that have ability of frequently applications in agriculture, hygienic, drug delivery and etc. suitable mechanical strength is one of the features of this material. If mechanical strength reduces, efficiency of hydrogels in variety of application will decrease. There are several ways for gel strength improvement, such as cyclic structure for example fumarates, surface crosslinking and preparation of interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs). Making of nanocomposite structure in hydrogels, using nanostructures, can improve physical-mechanical properties, surprisingly. Therefore, combination of interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) and nanocomposite structures can... 

In this study, differentiation of rabbit embryonic-derived mesenchymal stem cells to osteogenic cells has been characterized. Bone tissue engineering is based upon the understanding of bone tissue construct and it’s formation in-vivo, and the Preparation of tissue engineered bone constructs to repair large size defects is it’s major goal. We sought to investigate the combined effect of three elemnts of tissue engineering: cells, scaffolds and growth factors. Mesenchymal stem cells are unspecialized cells which due to their unlimited self-renewal capacity and the remarkable ability to differentiate along multiple linage pathways are natural choice for application in tissue repair and...