Neste estudo foram avaliadas amostras de misturas poliméricas de Policarbonato (PC) e Poli--caprolactona (PCL) em diferentes concentrações após enterro em solo preparado, por períodos variando de uma a doze semanas, seguindo a Norma ASTM G 160 - 03. As amostras, após ficarem enterradas, foram retiradas do solo e analisadas por calorimetria diferencial de varredura (DSC), análise termogravimétrica (TGA), microscopia ótica (MO), microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV) e espectrometria de absorção na região do infravermelho com transformada de Fourier (FTIR). Foi observado através de avaliação morfológica que houve degradação nas amostras de PCL puro e na mistura PC/PCL (60/40). Para misturas com menores teores de PCL a degradação não foi significativa no tempo de avaliação sugerido pela norma. Após o tempo de 12 semanas em contato com o solo houve uma redução no teor de cristalinidade das amostras tanto de PCL puro quanto da mistura PC/PCL com 40% de PCL. As variações ocorridas devido à biodegradabilidade não foram suficientes para acarretar perda de resistência térmica nas amostras. Verificou-se que para avaliar a biodegradabilidade de misturas contendo o polímero biodegradável PCL, é necessária uma adaptação da Norma utilizada, aumentando o tempo de enterro das amostras / In this study samples of polycarbonate (PC) and poly(- caprolactone (PCL) blends were evaluated in different concentrations after being buried under simulation soil condition, for periods varying from one to twelve weeks, following ASTM G 160 03 methodology. The samples, after being buried, were removed from the soil and analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), termogravimetric analysis (TGA), optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). It was observed by morphological evaluation that pure PCL and PC/PCL (60/40) blend have suffered degradation. Blends with lower content of PCL did not shown significant degradation during the period of time suggested at the ASTM methodology. After 12 weeks in contact with soil, pure PCL and PC/PCL blend with 40% of PCL, had a decrease in crystalinity content. The variations in the samples due to biodegradability have not been enough to cause loss of thermal resistance in any of the tested samples. It was verified that to evaluate biodegradability of blends containing biodegradable polymer PCL, it is necessary an adaptation of the ASTM methodology, increasing the time of samples burial

Submitted by Jorge Silva (jorgelmsilva@ufrrj.br) on 2017-06-21T17:20:01Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2015 - Vinicius Olivieri Rodrigues Gomes.pdf: 8391173 bytes, checksum: b3790798dbf591af7fcc8e63ad01c306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-21T17:20:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2015 - Vinicius Olivieri Rodrigues Gomes.pdf: 8391173 bytes, checksum: b3790798dbf591af7fcc8e63ad01c306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-07-22 / The need of producing polymeric artifacts increasingly powerful and versatile but which have increasingly lower biodegradation times motivates the scientific community to seek combinations of natural and synthetic polymers in order to meet both aspects. The manufacture of the blend LDPE/TPS Starch / Chitosan aims to go against that objective. The biodegradation occurs mostly in the soil. Trying to understand the dynamics of the biodegradation process in soil, this paper monitored the effects caused by deposition of the blend, analyzing different parameters, such as organic carbon, organic matter and microbial carbon, indicating levels of soil quality.The blends were prepared with different concentrations of chitosan, with values set to 0, 7, 5 and 15% of total mass and buried in pure soil and soil treated with humus. The analysis periods were 10, 40, 70, 100 and 130 days, with samples being exposed to the environment. Infrared analysis were performed using Fourier transform, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with spectroscopy dispersive energy before and after biodegradation mass loss, after the biodegradation process of the blends. Organic carbon, organic matter, microbial carbon, pH and moisture in the soil.The results obtained after analysis in blend showed that with the passage of time, the biodegradation process happened, considering that carbon levels dropped considerably and oxygen were increased in accordance with the EDS analysis. The FTIR analysis confirmed this fact by showing that there was an intese oxidative process, especially in the initial 70 days in all samples. The X-RD analysis showed that there was a variationin crystallinity, but always with a decrease of this paramenter. The weight loss was also significant and progressive in all samples. Soil results showed that the same is resilient and can recover its characteristics during the biodegradation process. At the beginning of the experiment, especially in the first 40 ays, all evaluated paramenters declined considerably, but returned to baseline levels and maintained these values by the end of the experiment. Experimental design was made and it showed that none of the dependent variables influenced the biodegradion process. / A necessidade de produzir artefatos polim?ricos cada vez mais vers?teis e ?performantes? e que apresentem caracter?sticas de biodegrada??o cada vez mais acentuadas tem motivado a comunidade cient?fica a buscar combina??es entre pol?meros sint?ticos e naturais com o objetivo de atender esses aspectos. O desenvolvimento de blendas de polietileno de baixa densidade/amido termopl?stico/quitosana (PEBD/TPS/Q) e de amido termopl?stico/quitosana (TPS/Q) visou ir de encontro a tal objetivo, procurando entender a din?mica do processo biodegradativo no solo. O presente trabalho acompanhou os efeitos causados pela deposi??o dessas blendas, analisando diferentes par?metros, como carbono org?nico total, massa org?nica total e carbono de biomassa microbiana, que indicam n?veis de qualidade do solo, al?m da perda de massa ap?s cada per?odo de biodegrada??o. As blendas de PEBD/TPS/Q e TPS/Q foram preparadas com diferentes concentra??es de quitosana, com valores definidos em 0, 7,5 e 15% da massa total e enterradas em solo puro e solo tratado com h?mus. Os per?odos de an?lise de biodegrada??o foram de 10, 40, 70, 100 e 130 dias, com as amostras sendo expostas ao ambiente. As blendas foram analisadas por espectroscopia de infravermelho com transformada de Fourier (FTIR), difra??o de raios-X (DRX), microscopia eletr?nica de varredura com espectroscopia de energia dispersiva (MEV/EDS), e quanto a perda de massa, antes e ap?s o processo de biodegrada??o. Tamb?m foram realizadas an?lises de carbono org?nico total, massa org?nica total, concentra??o de carbono de biomassa microbiana, pH e umidade dos solos utilizados. Os resultados comprovaram o processo biodegradativo das blendas com o passar do tempo, tendo em vista a diminui??o dos n?veis de carbono e aumento consider?vel dos n?veis de oxig?nio das blendas de PEBD/TPS/Q, de acordo com as an?lises de FTIR e EDS, e total biodegrada??o das blendas de TPS/Q. As bandas de FTIR comprovaram a ocorr?ncia do processo oxidativo, principalmente nos 70 dias iniciais, nas amostras de PEBD/TPS/Q. As an?lises de DRX mostraram que houve uma varia??o da cristalinidade, com a tend?ncia de diminui??o deste par?metro. A perda de massa tamb?m foi consider?vel e progressiva para todas as amostras. Os resultados de an?lise das amostras de solo mostraram o poder de recupera??o da atividade microbiana dos mesmos (resili?ncia) durante o processo biodegradativo. No per?odo inicial do experimento, em especial nos primeiros 40 dias, todos os par?metros avaliados sofreram decaimento de seus valores, por?m retornaram aos patamares iniciais e mantiveram esses valores at? o final do experimento. O planejamento experimental realizado mostrou que nenhuma das vari?veis independentes influenciou no processo de bioatividade do solo.

Hlavním cílem předložené diplomové práce byla příprava, charakterizace a reologická studie "inteligentních" injektovatelných hydrogelů, které jsou biodegradovatelné, biokompatibilní a s řízenou životností sestávajících se z hydrofilního polyethylenglykolu (PEG) a hydrofobního kopolymeru kyseliny polymléčné a polyglykolové (PLA/PGA). Výsledný termosenzitivní PLGA–PEG–PLGA kopolymer, který geluje při teplotě lidského těla, byl dále funkcionalizován anhydridem kyseliny itakonové získané z obnovitelných zdrojů, přinášející jak reaktivní dvojné vazby tak i funkční –COOH skupiny na konce kopolymeru. Navíc byl PLGA–PEG–PLGA kopolymer modifikován bioaktivním anorganickým hydroxyapatitem pro použití jako injektovatelné kostní adhezivum. Oba modifikované kopolymery jak ITA/PLGA–PEG–PLGA/ITA tak i PLGA–PEG–PLGA/HAp ovlivňují reologické vlastnosti původního PLGA—PEG—PLGA kopolymeru rozhodující o tom, zda by mohly být nové polymerní materiály vhodné jako injektovatelné nosiče léčiv nebo kostní lepidla v lékařských aplikacích. Experimentální část této práce je zaměřena především na charakterizaci viskoelastických vlastností jak nemodifikovaného PLGA—PEG—PLGA kopolymeru tak i s přidáním ITA nebo HAp metodou obrácených testovacích vialek (TTIM) a dynamickou reologickou analýzou. Výhodou TTIM je vizualizace přechodu sol-gel, určení kritické gelační teploty a kritické gelační koncentrace. Reologická měření poskytují informace o viskozitě a vizkoelasticitě gelu změnou elastického (G´) a ztrátového (G´´) modulu. Připravené kopolymery byly také charakterizovány 1H NMR a GPC. Povrch a velikost částic HAp byl popsán pomocí SEM a laserového analyzátoru částic. Původní PLGA—PEG—PLGA kopolymer i kopolymer modifikovaný ITA a HAp vykazovaly sol-gel přechod vyvolaný zvýšením teploty. Reologické vlastnosti kopolymerů v koncentračním rozmezí 6 až 24 hm. % ve vodě byly studovány buď TTIM nebo užitím reometru a získané výsledky spolu velmi dobře korespondovaly. Reologické vyhodnocení prokázalo dvě „překřížení“, kde G´ =G´´. První překřížení velmi dobře korespondovalo s prvním sol-gel přechodem nalezeným prostřednictvím TTIM. Maximální hodnota G´ odpovídající nejvyšší tuhosti polymerního gelu byla situována v bílém gelu. Druhý fázový přechod představuje přechod mezi gelem a suspenzí, kdy je bílý polymer oddělen od vody. Tuhost gelu roste s rostoucí koncentrací polymeru ve vodě. Pro srovnání, kopolymer modifikován jak ITA, tak i přidáním HAp (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 hm %) vykázal zvýšení tuhosti gelu oproti původnímu kopolymeru PLGA–PEG–PLGA a přiblížení teploty maximální hodnoty G´ tělesné teplotě (37 °C). Bylo prokázáno, že jak ITA/PLGA–PEG–PLGA/ITA kopolymer tak i PLGA—PEG—PLGA/HAp kompozit jsou vhodnými kandidáty na injekovatelné systémy pro řízené uvolňování léčiv či kostní adhezivum pro ortopedii nebo zubní aplikace.

Les liquides ioniques, unions de cations organiques et d’anions, sont des milieux structurés sur plusieurs nanomètres et présentent des propriétés très intéressantes et modulables. Grâce à ces propriétés, les liquides ioniques ont retrouvé une place dans d’abondantes applications, particulièrement en synthèse organique. Dans le cadre de cette thèse nous avons présenté trois utilisations différentes : i) La première utilisation est basée sur l’emploi des LIs comme catalyseur de polymérisation par ouverture de cycle (POC) contrôlée de l’-caprolactone dans des conditions douces. ii) La deuxième utilisation des liquides ioniques repose sur la synthèse d’un nouveau catalyseur/initiateur organostannique supporté sur un liquide ionique pour la préparation d’un polymère biodégradable. La présence du LI devrait permettre d’éliminer le catalyseur par simple filtration. iii) La troisième et la dernière application repose sur la réalisation d’un assemblage original composé de -cyclodextrines native et perméthylée, d’un liquide ionique et d’un polymère chargé. Cette assemblage est totalement nouveau et pourrait donner accès à des matériaux hydrosolubles avec de nouvelles applications séparatives. / Ionic liquids, combinations of organic cations and anions, are structured media of several nanometers and have very interesting and flexible properties. Thanks to these properties, ionic liquids have found a place in abundant applications, particularly in organic synthesis. In this thesis we have presented three different uses: i) The first use is based on the use of ILs as a controlled ring-opening polymerization (POC) catalyst for -caprolactone under mild condition. ii) The second use of ionic liquids is based on the synthesis of an innovative organotin catalyst / initiator supported on an ionic liquid for the preparation of a biodegradable polymer. The presence of the IL should make possible the elimination of the catalyst by simple filtration. The biological tests must agree our theory. iii) The third and last application is based on the creation of an original assembly composed of native and permethylated -cyclodextrins, an ionic liquid and a charged polymer. This new association could give access to water-soluble materials with new separation applications.

Le traitement des infections intracellulaires est compliqué par la capacité des bactéries à «se cacher» à l’intérieur des cellules de l’hôte, en particulier celles du système immunitaire, entravant ainsi l’action de nombreux agents antimicrobiens. La diffusion croissante de souches résistantes est très inquiétante. Dans ce cadre, les nanoparticules (NPs) constituent une stratégie prometteuse pour administrer de manière optimisée des agents antimicrobiens.Ce travail de thèse, réalisé dans le cadre du projet européen ITN Cyclon Hit, visait à développer et caractériser des NPs biodégradables et biocompatibles chargées en antibiotiques, composés d’acide polylactique (PLA), d’acide poly (lactique-co-glycolique) (PLGA) et de polycaprolactone (PCL) ou de cyclodextrines polymérisées (pCD).Les deux premiers chapitres sont consacrés aux verrous technologiques liés à l'encapsulation de certains médicaments puissants dans les NPs polymériques. Tout d'abord, ces vecteurs ont été utilisés pour la délivrance simultanée d'une combinaison de molécules actives récemment découverte, l'éthionamide (ETH) et son Booster, pour le traitement de la tuberculose. Deuxièmement, ils ont été employés pour relever les défis liés à l'incorporation d'une quinolone de première génération, l'acide pipémidique (PIP), dans le but d'optimiser sa distribution intracellulaire dans des infections telles que la salmonellose.La co-incorporation efficace de l'ETH et du booster a dû surmonter de nombreuses difficultés liées à des problèmes de solubilité, de cristallisation et de biodisponibilité. Nos NPs en PLA et en pCD ont montré leur capacité de co-encapsuler efficacement les deux molécules et tout particulièrement celles en pCD. Elles incorporent les médicaments à la fois dans les cavités des CD et dans des microdomaines hydrophobes. Les NPs en pCD, non toxiques après administration pulmonaire répétée de fortes doses, ont été administrés in vivo par voie endotrachéale directement au site d'infection. Elles ont permis une diminution de 3-log de la charge bactérienne pulmonaire des animaux infectés après seulement 6 administrations. De même, l'incorporation de PIP a été confrontée à des défis liés à la cristallisation de PIP et à sa libération incontrôlée. Malheureusement, le PIP présentait une faible affinité pour tous les matériaux polymériques étudiés et son encapsulation physique était infructueuse. Ainsi, une approche alternative a été développée en couplant le PIP au PCL via une réaction sans catalyseur initiée par le médicament. Le conjugué PCL-PIP se auto-assemble en forme de NPs avec une charge en PIP de 27%. Cependant, le PCL-PIP n'a pas pu être dégradé in vitro, mais l’approche de synthèse de conjugués est séduisante pour obtenir de particules stables et avec un contenu important en PIP.La compréhension approfondie de la structure et de la composition du noyau et de la couronne des nanostructures contenant une ou deux molécules actives est cruciale pour leur optimisation. Les deux derniers chapitres sont donc consacrés à l'application innovante de l'AFM-IR, une méthode nanospectroscopique originale combinant la microscopie à force atomique (AFM) avec la spectroscopie infrarouge (IR), à l'analyse chimique des NPs en PLGA ou à leur détection sans marquage après internalisation dans les cellules.L’AFM-IR est capable de fournir une caractérisation chimique à l'échelle nanométrique (résolution ~10 nm). Une avancée majeure du travail est l'application du mode tapping permettant l'investigation individuelle de chaque NP. Le signal IR spécifique des composants des NPs a été utilisé pour appréhender la composition chimique de leur cœur et couronne ainsi que pour localiser précisément le médicament. De plus, l'AFM-IR en mode contact a permis pour la première fois la localisation sans marquage et l'identification chimique des NP à l'intérieur des cellules. Ce travail ouvre la voie à d'innombrables applications de cette technique dans le domaine de la nanomedecine. / The treatment of intracellular infections is very challenging given the ability of bacteria to “hide” inside the cells of the host, especially the ones of the immune system, thus hampering the action of many antimicrobial agents. The battle against these bacteria has been further exacerbated by the increasing diffusion of antimicrobial resistant strains. In this frame, nanoparticles (NPs) are a very promising strategy to overcome the limitations of free antimicrobial agents by administering them in an optimized manner.This PhD work, performed as part of the European Project ITN Cyclon Hit, aimed at the development and advanced characterisation of antibiotic-loaded biodegradable and biocompatible NPs made of poly (lactic acid) (PLA), poly (lactic-co-glycolic) (PLGA) and polycaprolactone (PCL) or of polymerised cyclodextrins (pCDs).The first two chapters are dedicated to the encapsulation of powerful but challenging drugs in polymeric NPs. Firstly, these carriers were employed for the simultaneous delivery of a potent drug combination recently discovered, ethionamide (ETH) and its booster, for tuberculosis therapy. Secondly, they were used to address the challenges related to the incorporation of a first-generation quinolone, pipemidic acid (PIP), with the aim of optimising its intracellular delivery in infections such as salmonellosis.The efficient co-incorporation of ETH and booster had to overcome several technological barriers. These drugs presented solubility, crystallisation and bioavailability-related problems which were overcome thanks to the developed NPs. Our engineered PLA and pCD NPs were both able to efficiently co-encapsulate the two molecules. Among the in depth-characterised formulations, pCDs NPs displayed the best physico-chemical properties and were shown to host the drugs both in the CD cavities and in confined spaces inside NPs crosslinked polymer. The pCD NPs were administered in vivo by endotracheal route directly to the infection site. Empty NPs were shown non-toxic after repeated pulmonary administration of high doses. Moreover, loaded pCD NPs led to a 3-log decrease in the pulmonary bacterial load of infected animals after only 6 administrations. Similarly, the incorporation of PIP faced challenges mainly related to PIP crystallization and burst release. Unfortunately, PIP displayed poor affinity for all the studied polymeric materials and its physical encapsulation was unsuccessful. Thus, an alternative approach was developed by coupling PIP to PCL by using an original catalyst-free drug-initiated reaction. The PCL-PIP conjugate self-assembled in NPs with up to 27 wt% PIP which were thoroughly characterised. However, the conjugate couldn’t be enzymatically degraded. With the design of novel PCL-PIP conjugates, this self-assembly approach could represent a promising strategy.The deep understanding of the structure and composition of complex core-corona nanocarriers containing one or two active molecules is crucial for their optimisation. The last two chapters are devoted to the innovative application of AFM-IR, an original nanospectroscopic method combining atomic force microscopy (AFM) with infrared (IR) spectroscopy, to the chemical analysis of PLGA NPs or to their label-free detection after cell internalisation.AFM-IR is able to provide chemical characterisation at the nanometer scale (resolution ~10nm). One main breakthrough here is the application of the recently developed tapping mode allowing the investigation of single polymeric NPs. The specific IR signal of NPs constituents was used to unravel the chemical composition of their core and corona as well as to precisely locate the drug. Moreover, the AFM-IR in contact mode enabled for the first time the label-free localisation and unambiguous chemical identification of NPs inside cells using the polymer IR specific response as a fingerprint. This work paves the way for countless application of this technique in the field of drug delivery.

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.

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>

Characterization of 3D printed polyester scaffolds modified by nano-hydroxyapatite for bone tissue engineering

No / This review summarises the recent developments in the synthesis and applications of polymers derived from malic acid. There has been an increased interest in the design of sustainable and biodegradable polymers as a result of the drive to use renewable feedstocks as an alternative to petrochemicals in addition to their significant potential in biomedical applications. Synthetic strategies to access polymers from malic acid based on both condensation and ring-opening polymerization, across a broad range of conditions, are reviewed along with their advantages and limits. The role that such materials are studied for in biomedical applications is discussed, and their environmental impact based on the biodegradability of the malic polymer backbone is outlined. / The Royal Society, EPSRC, BBSRC