Although conventional chemotherapy has been successful to some extent, the main drawbacks of chemotherapy are its poor bioavailability, high-dose requirements, adverse side effects, low therapeutic indices, development of multiple drug resistance, and non-specific targeting. The main aim in the development of drug delivery vehicles is to successfully address these delivery-related problems and carry drugs to the desired sites of therapeutic action while reducing adverse side effects. In this review, we will discuss the different types of materials used as delivery vehicles for chemotherapeutic agents and their structural characteristics that improve the therapeutic efficacy of their drugs and will describe recent scientific advances in the area of chemotherapy, emphasizing challenges in cancer treatments.

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Controlled drug delivery vehicles for cancer treatment and their performance.

Hydrogels for biomedical applications.

Membrane technology enhancement in oil–water separation. A review

Dyes are an important class of organic pollutants and are well known for their hazardous effects on aquatic life in general and human beings in particular. In order to reduce the negative effects of dye contaminated wastewater on humans and the environment, the wastewater must be treated carefully before discharge into main streams. Advances in science and technology have led to the evolution of several techniques for the removal of dyes from industrial and domestic effluents. In this review, the more recent methods for the removal of dyes from water and wastewater have been discussed. Wastewater treatment techniques such as adsorption, oxidation, flocculation–coagulation, membrane filtration and biological treatment have been highlighted. In addition, efforts were made to review all the available techniques and recently published studies from 2010–2014. Furthermore, the performance and special features of these technologies have been summarised. Advantages and limitations of each technique are also presented. A thorough literature survey revealed that chemical oxidation, adsorption, and biological treatments have been the most frequently investigated techniques for dye removal over the past few years.

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2015/ra/c4ra16959j

Recent advances in new generation dye removal technologies: novel search for approaches to reprocess wastewater

A review on chitosan and its nanocomposites in drug delivery.

A novel slow release fertilizer hydrogel nanocomposite was prepared via free radical polymerization of sodium alginate, acrylic acid, acrylamide, and clinoptilolite using N, N΄-methylene bisacrylamide as a crosslinker and ammonium persulfate as an initiator. Evidence of grafting and component interactions was obtained by a comparison of the Fourier transform infrared spectra of the initial substrates and hydrogel without clinoptilolite with that of the hydrogel nanocomposite containing clinoptilolite. The swelling behavior of both hydrogels in solutions of various pHs (2-12) and various saline solutions such as NaCl, KCl, CaCl2 and FeCl3 as well as swelling kinetics were investigated. Results showed that the swelling of hydrogels depends on the solution pH value. Also, the swelling of both hydrogels in all salt solutions is significantly lower than that of the values in distilled water. After those characterizations, the potential application was verified through sorption and fertilizer releasing from the hydrogel with and without clinoptilolite zeolite. The presence of the clinoptilolite zeolite in the hydrogel caused the system to liberate the nutrient in a more controlled manner than that with the neat hydrogel. The results of the fertilizer release of hydrogel nanocomposite were also encouraging in order to find applications in agriculture. Consequently, the good slow release fertilizer property as well as the good water adsorption capacity showed that this formulation is potentially viable to be used in agriculture as a nutrient carrier vehicle.

On the preparation and swelling properties of hydrogel nanocomposite based on Sodium alginate-g-Poly (acrylic acid-co-acrylamide)/Clinoptilolite and its application as slow release fertilizer

Ali Olad

Papers

On the preparation and swelling properties of hydrogel nanocomposite based on Sodium alginate-g-Poly (acrylic acid-co-acrylamide)/Clinoptilolite and its application as slow release fertilizer

Slow-released NPK fertilizer encapsulated by NaAlg-g-poly(AA-co-AAm)/MMT superabsorbent nanocomposite.

Superabsorbent hydrogel made of NaAlg-g-poly(AA-co-AAm) and rice husk ash: Synthesis, characterization, and swelling kinetic studies.

Removal of chromium from aqueous solution using polyaniline – Poly ethylene glycol composite

Slow-release NPK fertilizer encapsulated by carboxymethyl cellulose-based nanocomposite with the function of water retention in soil