Showing papers in "Progress in Polymer Science in 2012"

TL;DR: This review will provide a comprehensive overview of general properties of alginate and its hydrogels, their biomedical applications, and suggest new perspectives for future studies with these polymers.

TL;DR: A comprehensive review of literature on bio-fiber reinforced composites is presented in this paper, where the overall characteristics of reinforcing fibers used in biocomposites, including source, type, structure, composition, as well as mechanical properties, are reviewed.

TL;DR: Polyimides rank among the most heat-resistant polymers and are widely used in high temperature plastics, adhesives, dielectrics, photoresists, nonlinear optical materials, membrane materials for separation, and Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films, among others as mentioned in this paper.

TL;DR: An overview of the current understanding on the fundamentals of PLA crystallization in quiescent conditions and on the practical means to enhance its rate can be found in this paper, where the most promising efforts in enhancing PLA crystallisation kinetics through plasticization or heterogeneous nucleation are reviewed.

TL;DR: This review presents a comprehensive introduction to various types of synthetic biodegradable polymers with reactive groups and bioactive groups, and further describes their structure, preparation procedures and properties.

TL;DR: In this paper, a comprehensive review of shape-memory polymers (SMPs) and their derivatives, such as composites and compound structures, as well as their current applications are presented.

TL;DR: The use of nanoporous organic polymers for applications such as catalysis and separations is an important developing area, and recent developments as well as highlighting potential future opportunities are discussed in this article.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the rationale for engineering tissues and organs by combining computer-aided design with additive manufacturing technologies that encompass the simultaneous deposition of cells and materials, particularly with respect to limitations due to the lack of suitable polymers and requirements to move the current concepts to practical application.

TL;DR: In this paper, the use of hydrogels in sensor development is reviewed with focus on recent efforts in the application of stimuli responsive hydrogel as sensors, as suitable matrices in which the sensing (bio-)molecules are embedded, and as modification and protection of sensor surfaces.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present various combinations of PAN and PAN-based precursors in producing carbon nanofibers (CNFs) from the PAN homopolymer, copolymers, blends and various composites.

TL;DR: Recent advances in the preparation of polymer-based nanomaterials using ATRP are reviewed, including polymer bioconjugates, block copolymer-based drug delivery systems, cross-linked microgels/nanogels, diagnostic and imaging platforms, tissue engineering hydrogels, and degradable polymers.

TL;DR: In this paper, a review of the research progress on conducting polymers and their corresponding thermoelectric (TE) nanocomposites is presented, focusing on the polymeric and polymer-inorganic TE nanocomposition materials.

TL;DR: In this article, a review of the thermodynamic properties of two important polymer classes in aqueous solution, namely poly(2-oxazoline)s and poly(ethylene oxide)s, is presented.

TL;DR: In this paper, a comprehensive guide for the manufacture of porous polymer particles is presented, including a comparison of microfluidics, membrane/microchannel, suspension, dispersion, precipitation, multistage polymerizations and a few other less known methods.

TL;DR: The use of reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) has made a huge impact in macromolecular design as mentioned in this paper, and it is remarkable to see that RAFT polymerization has grown from a lab curiosity to a polymerization tool that is now used with confidence in material design.

TL;DR: This review combines the valuable existing knowledge in the fields of synthesis, properties and biomedical applications of PGS and PGS-related biomaterials and devices to meet the ever growing demand for replacement tissues and organs.

TL;DR: Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) is a newly developed phenomenon that is exactly opposite to the aggregation-caused emission quenching effect observed with some conventional luminophores as discussed by the authors.

TL;DR: The importance of the electrospraying parameters that enable reproducible tailoring of the particles’ physical and in vitro drug release characteristics are reviewed, along with discussion of existing in vivo data.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on state-of-the-art polymeric hollow fiber membranes made from non-solvent-induced phase inversion and the potential of membrane processes for sustainable water and energy production.

TL;DR: In this paper, the self-assembly of block copolymers (BCPs) in the presence of crystallization is reviewed, for BCPs in the bulk, thin films, single crystals and micelles.

TL;DR: In this article, the possibility to enhance polymer/filler interfacial interaction via crystallization of polymer on the surface of fillers, i.e., interfacial crystallization, is summarized and discussed in this paper.

TL;DR: The present review outlines the development up to date concerning the design and biomedical application of functional aliphatic polycarbonates, with an emphasis on their ring-opening (co)polymerization preparation.

TL;DR: The recent advances reported in the literature that could provide new avenues to the development of more efficient adhesives inspired in nature strategies are discussed.

TL;DR: In this paper, a soccer-team-like framework was proposed to illustrate the structure-property relationships at three levels: chain structures, thin films and devices, and the modelling of hydrocarbon polyfluorenes (CPFs) was summarized within the framework of a four-element design principle, in which they highlighted polymorphic poly(9,9-dialkylfluorene)s with unique supramolecular interactions, various hydrocarbon-based monomers with different electronic structures, functional bulky groups with steric hindrance effects and ladder-type, kinked

TL;DR: In this article, a critical review on the recent development of novel narrow bandgap polymers for high-efficiency polymer solar cells concentrates on the structural design of narrow band gap polymers, which occupy a central place in recent advances in high efficiency polysilicon solar cells, the intrinsic physics and chemistry of special properties, such as absorption, bandgap and energy levels, and correlation of polymer structure and device fabrication with their photovoltaic performances.

TL;DR: In this paper, the two physical mechanisms of slip are discussed and validated on the basis of published experimental data and their significance on the rheology and flow simulations of molten polymers is discussed.

TL;DR: A detailed literature survey on the various modifications of the carbon nanostructures for nanocomposite preparation focusing upon the works published in the last decade is presented in this article.

TL;DR: Some of the most frequently used proteins for tissue engineering and biomedical applications are addressed and the techniques most commonly used to functionalize protein-based biomaterials by combining them with bioactive molecules to enhance biological performance are described.

TL;DR: In this article, the current status of research on the development and applications of radiation-grafted copolymers for separation and purification purposes is presented without neglecting the seminal work that laid the foundation to today's progress.

TL;DR: In this paper, the state of the art in the field of the rheology of starch polymers, including specially designed rheometric techniques and complex Rheology as influenced by different conditions, is reviewed.