This dissertation, entitled »Control of the morphology of biodegradable polymer blends«, has been running parallel with the grant project »Multiphase biodegradable polymer systems« and it represents a new research direction in the Department of morphology and rheology of polymer materials at the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry. The main idea was to employ our long-lasting work and experience in the field of morphology control of synthetic polymer blends in the very analogous field of the biodegradable polymer blends. We have chosen three most common, widely used and relatively cheap bio-based polymers - starch, poly(lactic acid) and poly(ε-caprolactone) - in order to investigate how the properties of their blends might be improved if we control the blend morphology in targeted, reproducible and well-defined way from the very beginning. It has been well established that morphology (phase structure, supramolecular structure) is one of the key factors influencing final properties of polymer blends, including mechanical performance, rate of (bio)degradation, gas permeability etc. In this work, numerous preliminary experiments showed that there are two systems in which the morphology control could significantly help in the improving of their end-use properties: PLA/PCL/TiX (where PLA = poly(lactic acid),...

Charles University Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové Department of Pharmaceutical Technology Consultant: doc. RNDr. Milan Dittrich, CSc. Student: Andrea Balciarová Title of Thesis: Formulation and testing of rifampicin-loaded branched polyesters nanoparticles In presented thesis, the main attention in theoretical part is focused on nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery, their types, structure and carriers used for their preparation. Moreover, in this part there is an overview of physicochemical characteristics and preparation methods of polymeric nanoparticles applicable in formulation of pharmaceutical products. The experimental part is concerned on studying the influence of the concentration of biodegradable polymers, the presence of cationic surfactants and rifampicin as model drug substance on nanoparticles΄ size and zeta-potential. The main attention is given to nanoparticles decoration with anionic biopolymers, hyaluronic acid and xanthan gum. The simple method of preparation which is usable in nanosystems formulation that influence biological functions purposefully was tried and tested in different contexts.

En la actualidad existe en Perú la Ley de Protección y Bienestar Animal N° 30407 que sanciona la crueldad, el abandono y la muerte de animales domésticos. Dando origen a un gran mercado lleno de oportunidades dirigido a las mascotas. En lima, cada vez hay más hogares con una mascota, sean estos perros, gatos, o cualquier otro animal doméstico. Estas mascotas se convierten en miembros de la familia, al cual se le brinda mucha atención, como salud, comida balanceada, prendas y hasta una digna sepultura. En este último punto, en la perdida de esta mascota, su ausencia, los sentimientos, la tristeza y los recuerdos que quisiéramos mantener latentes, acompañándonos aún. Ahí es que nace la idea de que las mascotas logren trascender en el tiempo, manteniendo los recuerdos y sentimientos hacia nuestras mascotas fallecidas, en urnas biodegradables personalizadas a la mascota, dando origen a “Urbi Huellitas Pets” una idea de negocio que permite a las familias mantener vivo el recuerdo de su mascota. Con un servicio personalizado dirigido a la necesidad de cada cliente. / There is currently in Peru the Animal Protection and Welfare Act No. 30407 which sanctions the cruelty, abandonment and death of domestic animals. Giving rise to a large market full of opportunities aimed at pets. In lime, there are more and more homes with a pet, be they these dogs, cats, or any other pet. These pets become family members, which are given a lot of attention, such as health, balanced food, clothing and even a dignified burial. At this last point, in the loss of this pet, its absence, the feelings, the sadness and the memories that we would like to keep dormant, accompanying us even. There is the idea that pets manage to transcend in time, maintaining memories and feelings towards our deceased pets, in biodegradable urns customized to the pet, giving rise to “Urbi Huellitas Pets” a business idea that allows families to keep the memory of their pet alive. With a personalized service aimed at the need of each client. / Trabajo de investigación

Nanomaterials have gained great attention for biomedical applications due to their extraordinary physico-chemical and biological properties. The current dissertation presents the design and development of multifunctional nanoparticles for molecular imaging and controlled drug delivery applications which include biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION)/polymeric nanocomposite for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and drug delivery, manganese-doped zinc sulfide (Mn:ZnS) quantum dots (QDs)/ SPION/ polymeric nanocomposites for fluorescence imaging, MRI and drug delivery.Bioimaging is an important function of multifunctional nanoparticles in this thesis. Imaging probes were made of SPION and Mn:ZnS QDs for in vitro and in vivo imaging. The SPION have been prepared through a high temperature decomposition method to be used as MRI contrast agent. SPION and Mn:ZnS were encapsulated into poly (lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) nanoparticles during the particles formation. The hydrophobic model drug, busulphan, was loaded in the PLGA vesicles in the composite particles. T2*-weighted MRI of SPION-Mn:ZnS-PLGA phantoms exhibited enhanced negative contrast with r2* relaxivity of 523 mM-1 s-1. SPION-Mn:ZnS-PLGA-NPs have been successfully applied to enhance the contrast of liver in rat model.The biodegradable and biocompatible poly (ethylene glycol)-co-poly (caprolactone) (PEG-PCL) was used as matrix materials for polymeric nanoparticles -based drug delivery system. The PEG-PCL nanoparticles have been constructed to encapsulate SPION and therapeutic agent. The encapsulation efficiency of busulphan was found to be ~ 83 %. PEG-PCL nanoparticles showed a sustained release of the loaded busulphan over a period of 10 h. The SPION-PEG-PCL phantoms showed contrast enhancement in T2*-weighted MRI. Fluorescein-labeled PEG-PCL nanoparticles have been observed in the cytoplasm of the murine macrophage cells (J774A) by fluorescence microscopy. Around 100 % cell viability were noticed for PEG-PCL nanoparticles when incubated with HL60 cell line. The in vivo biodistribution of fluorescent tagged PEG-PCL nanoparticles demonstrated accumulation of PEG-PCL nanoparticles in different tissues including lungs, spleen, liver and kidneys after intravenous administration. / <p>QC 20160516</p>

Bioplastic research has become more diverse and different types of research on bioplastic production have been conducted from fruits and vegetable waste, for example, orange waste. The wastes that come from oranges contain more than just vitamins, it has soluble sugars, starch, hemicellulose, cellulose, and pectin. The intention of this project was to study the possibility to produce bio-composite films from orange waste, after removing the soluble sugars. It was also to analyze the properties of the material by tensile strength, visual observation, and to find a methodology that suits this study. An ultrafine grinder was used to mechanically separate the cellulose fibres, with the intention to compare the fibrillation cycles on the properties of the bio-composite films. A total of 30fibrillation cycle was performed. In addition, different film casting strategies were performed and evaluated. The primary plan was to produce a biofilm without the use of chemicals. After the observing the results three new routes for the methodology was developed where the usage of chemicals was be included. The citric acid was used as a solvent for pectin and glycerol was used as a plasticizer. In the first method, different concentration of citric acid and glycerol were added and observed. The combination which gave uniformed films that contained 0.3 g of citric and 0.375 g of glycerol for a 75 ml hydrogel. The second method was to infuse citric acid before grinding the orange waste suspension. Lastly, the third method was to bleach the orange waste before grinding. The films that were produced gave interesting results and from the tensile testing implied that an impact was made on the strength by every fibrillation. The amount of glycerol was consistent throughout the project, but by adding different amount of citric acid gave the films differentIIproperties. The same happened when changing the mould of the film. The best values of the films were from the 30th fibrillation, gave the mean value of 31.6 MPa in tensile strength, and had a strain in elongation at 6.1 %. The tensile strength and elongation had increased drastically compared the fifth fibrillation which had 9.8 MPa and 7.6%.

En la actualidad la contaminación ha aumentado considerablemente, el mar se ha llenado de desperdicios y muchos animales se han visto perjudicados. Varios medios han informado que dicha situación va a ir aumentando si no se realizan cambios. Por lo tanto los diferentes países han coincidido en que se deben tomar medidas. En Perú por su parte se aprobó la ley N° 30884 que regula el plástico de un solo uso así como diferentes tipos de envases descartables. Debido a esto se creó Almibag que son la venta de bolsas biodegradables en base a almidón de yuca. Estas bolsas resultan beneficiosas para las personas debido a que ayudan al medio ambiente ya que se demoran en degradarse de 2 a 3 años y a su vez son fuertes para cargar los productos que sea necesario. Almibag se dedica a la tercerización, se ha conseguido personas que fabriquen este producto en bruto y así nosotros podemos personalizarlo y venderlo en diferentes lugares como son supermercados, tiendas, minimarkets, etc. Se espera que las ganancias aumenten año tras año con el fin de lograr rentabilidad para la empresa. Es importante considerar que Almibag al no ser fabricantes directos, deben poner empeño en sus acciones de marketing, como lo es las estrategias de las 4p así también los planes estratégicos internos e internos y por último cuáles van ser sus estrategias financieras como ya antes se mencionó ya que es importante generar rentabilidad. / Today, pollution has increased considerably, the sea has been filled with waste and many animals have been harmed. Various media have reported that this situation will increase if changes are not made. Therefore, the different countries have agreed that measures must be taken. In Peru, meanwhile, Law No. 30884 was approved, which regulates single-use plastic as well as different types of disposable packaging. Because of this Almibag was created, which is the sale of biodegradable bags based on cassava starch. These bags are beneficial for people because they help the environment since they take 2 to 3 years to degrade and are also strong enough to carry the products that are necessary. Almibag is dedicated to outsourcing, we have recruited people to manufacture this raw product and so we can customize it and sell it in different places such as supermarkets, stores, minimarkets, etc. Profits are expected to increase year after year in order to achieve profitability for the company. It is important to consider that Almibag, as they are not the direct manufacturers, must put effort into their marketing actions, as is the 4p strategies as well as the internal and external strategic plans and finally what will be their financial strategies as mentioned before because this is essential to be profitable. / Trabajo de investigación

Estamos en la era biodegradable, en los últimos años la conciencia por el cuidado y sostenibilidad ambiental ha estado en constante crecimiento. Este crecimiento ha sido proporcional con el interés de los consumidores por disminuir y reemplazar los productos plásticos derivados del polímero, con productos biodegradables y compostables que, a pesar tener precios más elevados, son atractivos para los consumidores debido a la satisfacción personal y ambiental que conlleva su compra. Este cambio en el estilo de vida del consumidor peruano se ha reflejado en el interés del Gobierno por regular el consumo de productos de plástico de un solo uso y no compostables en los negocios locales. Por lo que, se aprobó la ley N° 30884 que según el diario “El Peruano” tiene “La finalidad de la ley es contribuir en la concreción del derecho que tiene toda persona a gozar de un ambiente equilibrado y adecuado al desarrollo de su vida, reduciendo para ello el impacto adverso del plástico de un solo uso, de la basura marina plástica, fluvial y lacustre y de otros contaminantes similares, en la salud humana y del ambiente”. El objetivo de The Green Alternative es brindar a este segmento de mercado una solución completa y accesible para reemplazar los productos de plástico, así como crear consciencia a los interesados por cuidar el medio ambiente e incrementar nuestra participación en el mercado. / We are in the biodegradable age, in recent years awareness of environmental care and sustainability has been constantly growing. This growth has been proportional to consumers' interest in diminishing and replacing polymer-derived plastic products, biodegradable and compostable products that, despite having higher prices, are attractive to consumers because of the personal and environmental satisfaction that comes with their purchase. This change in the lifestyle of the Peruvian consumer has been reflected in the government's interest by regulating the consumption of single-use, non-compostable plastic products in local businesses. Therefore, Law No. 30884 was passed, which according to the newspaper "El Peruano" has "The purpose of the law is to contribute to the realization of the right that every person has to enjoy a balanced environment reducing the adverse impact of single-use plastic, plastic, river and lake litter and other similar pollutants, in human health and the environment." The green alternative aims to provide this market segment with a complete and accessible solution to replace plastic products, as well as raising awareness for those interested in taking care of the environment and increasing our market share. / Trabajo de investigación

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We live in a time of many challenges. The ‘Great Acceleration’ (Steffen et al., 2015) is a trend that can be observed in numerous fields in our world: be it the development of CO2 emissions, the land use or the enormous amount of produced plastics accompanied by massive environmental pollution. This ‘phenomenon’ is obviously directly linked to the way we live and how our society works. To meet these developments, we need to move away from the big, prone concepts that got us here in the first place, and instead build on a variety of dynamic and changing solutions.

In this study, traditional Japanese washi paper was sandwiched with poly(butylene succinate)(PBS) in order to produce a paper-based composite material that can be biologically degraded. Specimens were prepared using a hot press, and the mechanical properties of the washi paperand the new composite material were investigated by tensile tests. The cross-sections of specimens were then observed with a digital microscope as well as by scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis. The microscope images indicated that therelatively hollow washi provides a structure for the polymer to settle into, which could contribute to the improved strength of the composite material. Specimens made from three layers of washipaper and combined with two layers of PBS film had remarkable mechanical propertiesincluding a UTS of 95 MPa.The composite material was incubated in compost and a MODA C-S (Microbial Oxidative Degradation Analyzer) was used to evaluate its biodegradability. The material showed good biodegradability with significant losses of mass (-32 %) as well as major loss of mechanical strength after four weeks of incubation. The biodegradability of the material will be further investigated.