Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is a nontoxic, biodegradable, and biocompatible polymer and has been used extensively in various fields. Indeed, important features of PVA such as its film-forming ability, high tensile strength and flexibility, high viscosity, solvent tolerance ability, thermostable nature have made it vital and drawn the attention of scientific community. However, being a watersoluble polymer, some chemical modifications are required to alter this property of PVA. Cross-linking is the most attractive and widely used method to change the properties of PVA to make it more valuable material. Different carboxylic acids have already been used for PVA cross-linking in various applications such as pervaporation, reverse osmosis (RO), wound dressing, drug delivery, and fuel cells. However, a comprehensive study on structure-property correlation of carboxylic acids as PVA cross-linker is not available. In this review, different available studies on carboxylic acid cross-linked PVA are summarized and are used to develop structure-property correlations of carboxylic acids as cross-linker on the properties of cross-linked PVA. Advantages and limitations of different carboxylic acids as PVA cross-linker are also summarized for various fields such as tissue engineering, wound dressing, drug delivery, fuel cell/ solid polymer electrolyte, pervaporation, desalination and RO solid polymer electrolytes, and food packaging.
The use of photocatalyst for the degradation of synthetic and organic pollutants such as dyes and chemicals has emerged as an effective method for the waste water treatment. In this...
The present work reports the synthesis of a ternary nanocomposite GO‐CS‐PPy comprising of graphene oxide (GO), chitosan (CS), and polypyrrole (PPy). The ternary nanocomposite GO‐CS‐PPy was characterized by a variety of techniques like Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X‐ray diffraction analysis (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis, and differential thermal analysis. The in situ synthesis of ternary nanocomposite GO‐CS‐PPy was carried out in the presence of catalytic FeCl3. The SEM and TEM analyses reveal a clear transformation of GO into the nanocomposite form where the characteristic sheet‐like structure of the former was crushed and converted into small pieces of nonuniform size. Similarly, in the XRD, the diagnostic peak of GO is also shifted appreciably employing successful synthesis of ternary nanocomposite GO‐CS‐PPy. The thermal stability of the ternary nanocomposite GO‐CS‐PPy was also found to be enhanced as compared to the pristine GO, CS, and PPy individually. The ternary nanocomposite GO‐CS‐PPy was used as an efficient adsorbent for the removal of a popular anionic dye Congo red as well as for the removal of heavy metal ions like Cu2+ and Cd2+ from water. In both cases, the ternary nanocomposite GO‐CS‐PPy was found to be very effective and can be commercialized in near future after further comprehensive studies.
Cancer is one of the most common causes of death and affects millions of lives every year. In addition to non-infectious carcinogens, infectious agents contribute significantly to increased incidence of several cancers. Several therapeutic techniques have been used for the treatment of such cancers. Recently, nanotechnology has emerged to advance the diagnosis, imaging, and therapeutics of various cancer types. Nanomaterials have multiple advantages over other materials due to their small size and high surface area, which allow retention and controlled drug release to improve the anti-cancer property. Most cancer therapies have been known to damage healthy cells due to poor specificity, which can be avoided by using nanosized particles. Nanomaterials can be combined with various types of biomaterials to make it less toxic and improve its biocompatibility. Based on these properties, several nanomaterials have been developed which possess excellent anti-cancer efficacy potential and improved diagnosis. This review presents the latest update on novel nanomaterials used to improve the diagnostic and therapeutic of pathogen-associated and non-pathogenic cancers. We further highlighted mechanistic insights into their mode of action, improved features, and limitations.
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