Marine pollution stemming from plastic microbeads (MBs) in personal care products has been substantially increased because of their nonbiodegradability and high adsorption capacity against persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in seawater. Moreover, the manufacturing process of MBs has been based on wet processes, such as emulsification, microfluidics, and precipitation. Therefore, a green process for obtaining biodegradable MBs is urgently necessary. Aliphatic polyesters, such as poly­(lactic acid) (PLA, radiation-degradable) and poly­(ε-caprolactone) (PCL, radiation-cross-linkable), have biodegradability and melt processability. The eco-friendly melt electrospraying process is a simple and cost-effective method for the preparation of MBs without the need for organic reagents. In this study, the PLA and PCL MBs were obtained by adjusting the main processing parameters during the melt electrospraying process. The weight losses of PLA and PCL MBs in aqueous environments occurred faster than those of positive controls, and the thermal transition parameters were decreased with the hydrolytic degradation of MBs. In the POP adsorption test, the biodegradable MBs showed poor adsorption because of their low specific surface area. The results of the cleansing efficiency test indicated that biodegradable MBs have great potential as more sustainable cosmetics to replace nondegradable MBs.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is recently accepted as a therapeutic molecule that exhibits remarkable biological actions, including anti-inflammation, antiapoptosis, and cytoprotection, at a physiological level. For clinical use without the side effect of tissue hypoxia, which arises from the uncontrolled administration of CO in the human body, CO-releasing molecules (CORMs) are developed to ensure safe and efficient CO-delivery. Herein, a syringe-injectable CO-releasing peptide hydrogel (COH) and a corresponding bioadhesive hydrogel patch (COHP), developed by rational supramolecular chemistry, to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of CO with controllable CO-release to a specific tissue is report. The injectable COH is prepared by self-assembly of the CORM-attached peptides with a gel-forming diphenylalanine-derivative, resulting in fibrillar networks and exhibiting prolonged CO-release compared with CORMs. Furthermore, Ca 2+ -chelating and mussel-derived catechol-functionalized peptides are introduced to afford a mechanically rigid, bioadhesive COHP that elicits cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory activities. The supramolecular COHP can be utilized in the efficient CO-delivery to the site of interest by conformal contacts, making it a promising scaffold for biomedical applications.

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