Showing papers in "European Polymer Journal in 2015"

TL;DR: From Wichterle’s pioneering work to the most recent hydrogel-based inventions and products on the market, it provides the reader with a detailed introduction to the topic and perspective on further potential developments.

TL;DR: In this article, a review of the synthesis, characterization and application of superabsorbent hydrogels in agriculture, mainly those based on polysaccharides, as soil conditioners and as polymer carriers for nutrient release, is presented.

TL;DR: An overview of the recent trends in the preparation of injectable hydrogels, along with key factors to be kept in balance for designing an effective injectable Hydrogel system are provided.

TL;DR: The use of vanillin for the preparation of renewable polymers is a burning issue that is actively investigated as mentioned in this paper, and vanillin is currently one of the only biobased and aromatic compounds that are industrially available.

TL;DR: In this paper, conducting polymers and their composites are used as counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and their evaluation methods such as cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), Tafel polarization and chronoamperometry with photovoltaic performance studies are presented.

TL;DR: In this article, the effect of solvent properties on the size and surface morphology of electrospun poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) fibres was investigated.

TL;DR: In this paper, the antibacterial activity of the resulting nanocomposites in the form of films is studied against two bacteria, Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Escherichia coli.

TL;DR: The importance of low-density microcellular closed-cell thermoplastic foams over conventional macrocellular ones has been demonstrated over the years in several areas of applications.

TL;DR: In this article, vanillin derivatives were used as a biobased building block for polymer chemistry as it is an industrially available, non-toxic, renewable compound.

TL;DR: This review covers the utilization of various injectable hydrogel systems for the delivery of therapeutic agents from the viewpoint of cross-linking methods.

TL;DR: This review discusses the key questions arising when designing hydrogel particles dedicated to biosensing, and discusses the strategies to fabricate and encode gel particles, and how can particles be processed and decoded after the assay.

TL;DR: In this article, an innovative and green chemistry synthetic approach was developed in order to employ lignin for the production of flexible polyurethane foams, which were tested and compared.

TL;DR: One-pot multi-step reactions based on thiolactone chemistry emerged as a powerful tool to prepare tailor-made, multi-functionalized polymer architectures in a one-pot and elegant manner as discussed by the authors.

TL;DR: This article focuses on the application of hydrogel particles for controlled or targeted release of lipophilic bioactive agents in the gastrointestinal tract including the mouth, stomach, small intestine, and colon.

TL;DR: In this article, thermally and mechanically characterized by using thermal analyses (TGA and DSC) and tensile tests, polylactic (acid) bionanocomposites filled with 0, 1 and 3.5% of lignin nanoparticles (LNPs) were produced by means of two processing techniques, melt extrusion (E-PLA) and solvent casting (C-PLA).

TL;DR: In this paper, a flexible PLA-PHB electrospun material was developed by means of electrospinning technique, which reduced the formation of beads and increased the ductility required for flexible films.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a vision for the continuous progress in antimicrobial nanomaterials, including self-assembly, nanoprecipitation, and electrospinning.

TL;DR: In this paper, the synthesis route to produce non-isocyanate polyurethane elastomer with significantly high biomass contents (85wt%) prepared from two different biomasses, i.e., lignin and soybean oil, for the first time.

TL;DR: In this paper, the temperature dependence of Δhm° for both the α- and α-crystal polymorphs of PLLA were determined, by combining differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction.

TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of blending two bio-based, bio-degradable polymers, poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) are investigated.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors review the principles, applications and perspectives of successive self-nucleation and Annealing (SSA), a thermal fractionation protocol designed to deconvolute Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) melting endotherms into elementary components.

TL;DR: This review covers the structural and mechanical characteristics of the developed methodologies to toughen hydrogels, highlighting some pioneering efforts employed to combine the aforementioned properties in natural-based hydrogel.

TL;DR: In this paper, the modular approach of click chemistry offers an elegant strategy toward functional poly(2-alkyl/aryl-2-oxazoline)s by post-polymerization modification of PAOx that contain clickable groups.

TL;DR: In this article, the melting temperature of poly(hexamethylene 2,5-furan dicarboxylate) (PHF) was obtained by applying the melt polycondensation method.

TL;DR: In this paper, the formation of laser induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) on polymer films is described and the possibilities of tuning the period and shape of the structures are discussed since the control of the characteristics of the superficial structures can be crucial in order to match the requirements of a particular application.

TL;DR: The increasing interest in the use of chitin as a source of nanostructured mate is due to its intractable structure and inherent insoluble nature as mentioned in this paper, making it an underutilized resource.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the limitations and challenges that remain to be solved before these highly promising nanocomposites become available on a commercially viable scale and elucidate the shortcomings in the understanding the fundamental principles involved in cell nucleation in polymer nan composites at the nanoscale.

TL;DR: In this paper, a feature article is presented on recent developments in the investigation of stimuli responsive polymers and their biomedical applications, focusing on biological consequences of physico-chemical properties of the polymer materials.

TL;DR: In this article, the synthesis of polyurethane foams from the reaction between cyclic carbonates and diamines was described, for the first time, in order to yield NonIsocyanate PolyUrethane (NIPU) foams.

TL;DR: In this article, a step-by-step guide on how to apply the method of moments to different polymerization and polymer modification systems is provided, and several examples are presented to clearly elucidate these concepts.