Tag Archives: nanoparticles

Nanoparticles Could Be the Key to Creating the Perfect Plastic

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Enhancing PVC Pipes with Nanoparticles

Credits: Valentyn Semenov/Alamy

The addition of nanoparticles may provide a solution to a longstanding challenge in the plastic manufacturing industry. The question remains: how can we develop materials that are robust, durable, and easy to handle?

Hu-Jun Qian from Jilling University in China and his team refer to this dilemma as the plastic trilemma. Enhancing the polymer’s deformability often becomes challenging, leading to materials that are either overly viscous or difficult to manipulate.

To tackle this, the researchers incorporated polystyrene-based nanoparticles into several widely used plastics. For instance, they enhanced PEMA, a polymer commonly used in manufacturing hearing aids, artificial nails, acrylic glass for aquariums and glasses, as well as PVC used in construction and packaging.

The team subjected the modified material to various tests to determine its stretching capacity before failure. Overall, the newly developed materials exhibited improved performance across multiple assessments, sometimes showing remarkable differences. The findings indicated that PEMA became about 50% stronger with the inclusion of nanoparticles. “This lays down essential design principles for next-generation polymers featuring previously unattainable property combinations,” Qian explains.

To further investigate the advantages of incorporating nanoparticles, the researchers also performed computer simulations of the new materials. These simulations indicated that nanoparticles could shift and redistribute within the material under stress, enabling a slow and smooth deformation rather than catastrophic failure. This mobility was equally advantageous for plastics that become more fluid when molten, making them stronger, more durable, and viable.

Qian notes that this innovative approach aligns with existing industrial processes and can be scaled up effectively. “This method could transform applications needing lightweight, durable, and easily manufactured materials, including composites for automotive and aerospace, sustainable packaging, biomedical devices, and highly recyclable plastics,” he asserts.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Drug-loaded nanoparticles may reduce arthritis pain when injected

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Osteoarthritis affects 530 million people worldwide

Puwadol Jaturautchai/Shutterstock

Drug delivery nanoparticles may be useful in treating osteoarthritis. In mice with signs of symptoms, a single injection of the particles relieved pain for several months.

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis and is approximately 530 million people worldwide. It occurs when the cartilage that cushions bones breaks down, causing joint stiffness and pain. Treatment options for this condition are limited, and there is no treatment to prevent cartilage degeneration.

Previous research has shown that a drug called pazopanib may help reduce osteoarthritis pain. However, the effect only lasts for a few days.So Heejeong Im Sampeng University of Illinois at Chicago and colleagues have developed a method of administration that extends release.

The researchers encapsulated pazopanib within nanoparticles that have already been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to deliver other drugs. They then injected the nanoparticles into the knees of 16 mice, and found that half of them had early signs of osteoarthritis, and half had advanced signs. The same number of animals received a dummy injection of nanoparticles without pazopanib.

Because it is difficult to assess joint pain in animals, the researchers used the widely accepted idea that individuals experiencing pain, such as joint pain, also become more sensitive to physical touch. and instead focused on rodent sensitivities.

Immediately after treatment, the researchers assessed how quickly the mice removed one paw from the uncomfortable hot plate. Mice with early or advanced osteoarthritis took significantly longer to remove their paws when given pazopanib rather than a dummy injection, suggesting that pazopanib nanoparticles rapidly reduced joint pain. I did. The researchers then repeated the hot plate test and found similar effects after two months in the advanced osteoarthritis group and after three months in the early osteoarthritis group. This means that pazopanib nanoparticles provide effective pain relief over several weeks. Animals treated with pazopanib also had less cartilage degeneration, indicating that nanoparticles may slow the progression of osteoarthritis.

But just because a treatment works in mice doesn't mean it will work in humans, Sampen says. The researchers plan to explore other ways to assess pazopanib's analgesic properties in animals. One approach, the researchers say, is to analyze how people walk and use their limbs to make sure the drug reduces joint pain.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Using Inhalable Nanoparticles to Treat COPD, a Chronic Lung Disease

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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease affects the lungs

Sebastian Kauricki/Science Photo Library

Using inhalable nanoparticles to deliver drugs to the lungs could help treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In mice with signs of the condition, treatment improved lung function and reduced inflammation.

COPD causes the airways in the lungs to gradually narrow and stiffen, blocking airflow and blocking mucus drainage. As a result, mucus builds up in the lungs, attracting bacterial pathogens that further worsen the disease.

This thick layer of mucus also traps drugs, making it difficult to treat infections. So, Zhu Junliang Researchers at China's Dongzhou University have developed inhalable nanoparticles that can penetrate mucus and deliver drugs deep into the lungs.

The researchers constructed hollow nanoparticles from porous silica and loaded them with an antibiotic called ceftazidime. A shell of negatively charged compounds surrounding the nanoparticles blocked the pores and prevented the antibiotic from leaking. This negative charge also helps the nanoparticles penetrate mucus. The slight acidity of the mucus then changes the charge on the shell from negative to positive, opening the pores and releasing the drug.

Researchers used an inhalation spray containing nanoparticles to treat bacterial lung infections in six mice with signs of COPD. A similar number of animals received antibiotics only.

On average, mice treated with nanoparticles had about 98 percent fewer pathogenic bacteria in their lungs compared to mice given antibiotics alone. They also had fewer inflammatory molecules in their lungs and less carbon dioxide in their blood, indicating better lung function.

These findings suggest that nanoparticles could improve drug delivery to people with COPD and other lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis, where thick mucus makes infections difficult to treat. It has said. vincent rotello from the University of Massachusetts Amherst was not involved in the study. However, it is unclear whether these nanoparticles are cleared from the lungs. “If you have a delivery system that accumulates over time, that's a problem,” he says.

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Source: www.newscientist.com