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Polymer Clay Nano-composites II

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Composites and Nanocomposites".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 8822

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on the current state-of-the-art developments in “Polymer Clay Nano-Composites” for biomedical, anticorrosion, antibacterial, and other applications. Clay–polymer composite nanomaterials is an emerging area of research. Loading polymers with clay particles essentially enhances the composite strength features.

Of particular interest are the different nano-assembly methods, such as silane mono and multilayers, polyelectrolyte layer-by-layer assembly, and others. These methods led to important developments in tubular and fibrous clay nanoparticles, such as halloysite, sepiolite, or imogolite. Polymer clay nanoparticles can be prepared as sheets in 1-nm thicknesses and a-few-hundred-nm wide (like kaolin and montmorillonite). Fibrous clays reinforce significantly the nano-composites in the assembly with biopolymers and other green polymers leading to functional hybrid bio nano-composites.

Papers are sought that summarize selected areas (reviews) or discuss the latest research in the field (original articles). The scope of the Special Issue comprehensively includes the synthesis and characterization of polymer clay nano-composites used for several applications, including nano-clay polymer composites and hybrid nano-assemblies.

Prof. Dr. Stefano Leporatti
Prof. Dr. Rawil F. Fakhrullin
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Polymer Composites Polymer Clays Nanocomposites Biopolymers Halloysites Montmorillonite Imogolites Sepiolites

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3783 KiB  
Article
Forskolin-Loaded Halloysite Nanotubes as Osteoconductive Additive for the Biopolymer Tissue Engineering Scaffolds
by Ekaterina Naumenko, Ivan Guryanov, Elena Zakirova and Rawil Fakhrullin
Polymers 2021, 13(22), 3949; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13223949 - 15 Nov 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2156
Abstract
Here we report the use of forskolin-modified halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) as a dopant for biopolymer porous hydrogel scaffolds to impart osteoinductive properties. Forskolin is a labdane diterpenoid isolated from the Indian Coleus plant. This small molecule is widely used as a supplement in [...] Read more.
Here we report the use of forskolin-modified halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) as a dopant for biopolymer porous hydrogel scaffolds to impart osteoinductive properties. Forskolin is a labdane diterpenoid isolated from the Indian Coleus plant. This small molecule is widely used as a supplement in molecular biology for cell differentiation. It has been reported in some earlier publications that forskolin can activate osteodifferentiation process by cyclic adenosine monophosphate (c-AMP) signalling activation in stem cells. In presented study it was demonstrated that forskolin release from halloysite-doped scaffolds induced the osteodifferentiation of equine mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in vitro without addition of any specific growth factors. The reinforcement of mechanical properties of cells and intercellular space during the osteodifferentiation was demonstrated using atomic force microscopy (AFM). These clay-doped scaffolds may find applications to accelerate the regeneration of horse bone defects by inducing the processes of osteodifferentiation of endogenous MSCs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Clay Nano-composites II)
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14 pages, 1777 KiB  
Article
Polypropylene/Ethylene—And Polar—Monomer-Based Copolymers/Montmorillonite Nanocomposites: Morphology, Mechanical Properties, and Oxygen Permeability
by Juan Felipe Castro-Landinez, Felipe Salcedo-Galan and Jorge Alberto Medina-Perilla
Polymers 2021, 13(5), 705; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13050705 - 26 Feb 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3458
Abstract
This research reports the influence of polar monomer contents in ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) and ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH) on the morphology, mechanical and barrier properties of polypropylene/ethylene copolymer (PP) reinforced with organically modified montmorillonite (MMT). PP/EVA and PP/EVOH (75/25 wt [...] Read more.
This research reports the influence of polar monomer contents in ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) and ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH) on the morphology, mechanical and barrier properties of polypropylene/ethylene copolymer (PP) reinforced with organically modified montmorillonite (MMT). PP/EVA and PP/EVOH (75/25 wt %) blends were reinforced with 3 wt % MMT in an internal mixer system. Samples were compression-molded into films of 300μ μm. The structural characterization was made using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the mechanical properties were obtained by tension tests and the barrier properties by oxygen transmission rate (OTR). XRD patterns showed a combination of intercalated/exfoliated morphologies for the MMT, with higher d-001 interplanar distance increments for the blends with higher content of polar functional groups. SEM and TEM micrographs complement the results of the XRD analysis and show differences in the morphologies depending on the miscibility of the polyolefin and the polar monomer copolymer. Mechanical properties and oxygen permeability of composites exhibited a higher improvement, by the addition of MMT, for higher intermolecular interactions and most miscible polymeric system of the EVA. These results show that the higher the number of interactions, given by the VA or OH polar functional groups, the morphology and the miscibility between polyolefin and copolymer imply dispersion improvements of the nanocomposites and, in consequence, a higher improvement on the mechanical and barrier properties of the composite material. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Clay Nano-composites II)
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14 pages, 7360 KiB  
Article
Cooperative Effects of Cellulose Nanocrystals and Sepiolite When Combined on Ionic Liquid Plasticised Chitosan Materials
by Pei Chen, Fengwei Xie, Fengzai Tang and Tony McNally
Polymers 2021, 13(4), 571; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13040571 - 14 Feb 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2234
Abstract
Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and/or sepiolite (SPT) were thermomechanically mixed with un-plasticised chitosan and chitosan/carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) blends plasticised with 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C2mim][OAc]). Examination of the morphology of these materials indicates that SPT aggregates were reduced when CNCs or [C2mim][OAc] [...] Read more.
Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and/or sepiolite (SPT) were thermomechanically mixed with un-plasticised chitosan and chitosan/carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) blends plasticised with 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C2mim][OAc]). Examination of the morphology of these materials indicates that SPT aggregates were reduced when CNCs or [C2mim][OAc] were present. Inclusion of CNCs and/or SPT had a greater effect on material properties when the matrices were un-plasticised. Addition of SPT or CNCs altered the crystalline structure of the un-plasticised chitosan matrix. Moreover, a combination of SPT and CNCs was more effective at suppressing re-crystallisation. Nonetheless, the mechanical properties and surface hydrophobicity were more related to CNC/SPT–biopolymer interactions. The un-plasticised bionanocomposites generally showed increased relaxation temperatures, enhanced tensile strength, and reduced surface wettability. For the [C2mim][OAc] plasticised matrices, the ionic liquid (IL) dominates the interactions with the biopolymers such that the effect of the nanofillers is diminished. However, for the [C2mim][OAc] plasticised chitosan/CMC matrix, CNCs and SPT acted synergistically suppressing re-crystallisation but resulting in increased tensile strength. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Clay Nano-composites II)
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