Showing papers in "Biomacromolecules in 2005"

TL;DR: There are numerous examples where animals or plants synthesize extracellular high-performance skeletal biocomposites consisting of a matrix reinforced by fibrous biopolymers, which occur as whisker-like microfibrils that are biosynthesized and deposited in a continuous fashion.

TL;DR: Increased acid-to-pulp ratio reduced the dimensions of the nanocrystals thus produced and the critical concentration was increased and the biphasic range became narrower; a suspension made from a bleached kraft eucalyptus pulp gave very similar properties to the softwood nanocrystal suspension when prepared under similar hydrolysis conditions.

TL;DR: Measurements of the elastic modulus of tunicate cellulose using a Raman spectroscopic technique show that the tunicate sample is a two-dimensional in-plane random network of fibers, and the modulus is very high, at about 143 GPa.

TL;DR: In this work, hyaluronic acid with molecular weights ranging from 50 to 1100 kDa was modified with methacrylic anhydride and photopolymerized into networks with a wide range of physical properties, which presented a next step toward the development of advanced in vivo curable biomaterials.

TL;DR: The discovery and chemical identification of the aliphatic polyester: poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), PHB, as a granular component in bacterial cells proceeded without any of the controversies which marked the recognition of macromolecules by Staudinger.

TL;DR: Both self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) and polymer brushes have attracted considerable attention as surface-active materials and are discussed with their potential applications in biotechnology.

TL;DR: The traditional motivation for integrating biological components into microfabricated devices has been to create biosensors that meld the molecular recognition capabilities of biology with the signal processing capabilities of electronic devices, but a different motivation is emerging; biological components are being explored to radically change how fabrication is achieved at the micro- and nanoscales.

TL;DR: The mechanical properties, including the tensile modulus and strength, of the nanocomposites are greatly improved by about 93% and 99%, respectively, with incorporation of only 0.8 wt % of MWNTs into the chitosan matrix.

TL;DR: This study investigated the feasibility of encapsulating human beta-nerve growth factor (NGF), which was stabilized in a carrier protein, bovine serum albumin (BSA) in a copolymer of epsilon-caprolactone and ethyl ethylene phosphate (PCLEEP) by electrospinning to produce biofunctional tissue scaffolds.

TL;DR: It is shown that aliphatic polyester structures made of repeating units that can generate metabolites upon degradation or biodegradation like poly(beta-hydroxy alkanoate)s and poly(alpha-hydroxymethicone)s are of special interest and are confronted to the specifications required by various potential sectors of applications, namely, surgery, pharmacology, and the environment.

TL;DR: It was found that coatings of collagen on PCL nanofibrous matrix definitely favored cells proliferation, and the efficiency is coating means dependent, which suggests that the Collagen-r-PCL nan ofibers can be used as novel functional biomimetic nanofIBers toward achieving excellent integration between cells and scaffolds for tissue engineering applications.

TL;DR: The difference in hydrogen bonding between hardwood and softwood lignin and the observed differences in the glass transition temperature are discussed.

TL;DR: The mechanical properties above the glass-rubber transition were found to be drastically enhanced for the nanocomposites as compared to the neat polypropylene matrix as well as the dispersion quality when investigation of the films was performed in the nonlinear region.

TL;DR: A novel theoretical model is presented to describe the formation and hydrolytic degradation of the step-polymerized gels and reveals that structural nonidealities play a key role in determining the degradation behavior of real cross-linked systems.

TL;DR: The "zipping" of long alternating sequences in secondary MG/MG junctions is suggested to account for the shrinking (syneresis) of alginate gels in view of its dependence on the length of the MG blocks.

TL;DR: The aim of this work was to compare and explore electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy for structure determination of cellulose whiskers and their nanocomposite with poly(lactic acid).

TL;DR: In this paper, a series of segmented poly(e-caprolactone) polyurethanes (PCLUs) were prepared from poly(E-Caprolacton) diol, 2,4-toluene diisocyanate and ethylene glycol, and their shape memory behaviors were investigated as a function of PCL molecular weight, PCLU composition, and thermal/mechanical history.

TL;DR: This preservation of enzyme activity and the continuous release of the intact enzyme from the immersed fibers meets a fundamental prerequisite for the application of enzymes or other sensitive agents released from electrospun nanofibers under physiological conditions.

TL;DR: Characteristic differences between the various LCC fractions were observed, clearly indicating that two different forms of lignin are present in the wood fiber wall, and a modified arrangement of the fiber wall polymers is suggested.

TL;DR: In this paper, two water-immiscible ionic liquids (ILs), 1-ethyl-3-methylimidizolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide and butyltrimethylammonium bis (triflooromethythmophosphamide) bis(tphosphoric acid), were used for butyl butyrate synthesis from Vinyl Butyrate catalyzed by Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB).

TL;DR: The regenerated fibroin fibers showed much better mechanical properties compared to the native silk fiber and their physical and chemical properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction, solid state (13)C NMR spectroscopy, SinTech tensile testing, and SEM.

TL;DR: A novel technique to synthesize near-uniform protein-polymer conjugates by initiating atom transfer radical polymerization of monomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-methacrylate from 2-bromoisobutyramide derivatives of chymotrypsin (a protein-initiator).

TL;DR: Ozonolysis was used to obtain polyols with terminal primary hydroxyl groups and different functionalities from trilinolein, low-saturation canola oil, and soybean oil, which displayed excellent mechanical properties and higher glass transition temperatures compared to polyurethanes from epoxidized and hydroformylated polyols of the same functionality.

TL;DR: In this paper, a mixture of poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) with polysaccharide (starch, S; dextran, D; or gellan, G) was used to produce a poly-protein mixture.

TL;DR: Ageing the materials at ambient temperature revealed that the enhanced flexibility as well as the morphological stability of the films plasticized with the oligomers could be maintained as a result of the higher molecular weight and the polar interactions with PLA.

TL;DR: This study suggests that hydrophobic interactions and reduced solubility are the main driving force for chitosan gelation at high temperature in the presence of beta-GP.

TL;DR: The main goal to obtain a styrene soluble kraft lignin that could be used in unsaturated polyesters and vinyl esters was achieved with fully butyrated kraftLignin and a butyrate/methacrylated kraftlignin, the solubility of the latter is governed by the butyrates/mETHacrylate ratio.

TL;DR: An adequate mathematical theory was developed describing the dominating mass transfer processes and chemical reactions in poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)-based microparticles used as controlled drug delivery systems, and a quantitative relationship could be established between the dimension of the device and the resulting drug release patterns, taking the effects of autocatalysis into account.

TL;DR: A rapid and accurate method for determining the number-average degree of polymerization (DP(n) was established for insoluble cellulose and soluble cellodextrins as the ratio of glucosyl monomer concentration determined by the phenol-sulfuric acid method divided by the reducing-end concentrations determined by a modified 2,2'-bicinchoninate (BCA) method.

TL;DR: Nodax is a recently introduced family of PHA copolymers comprising 3-hydroxybutyrate units and a relatively small amount of other medium chain length 3-Hydroxyalkanoate (mcl-3HA) comonomers with side groups of at least three carbon units or more.