Polysaccharide Nanocomposites Research Articles

Polysaccharide nanocomposites in wastewater treatment: A review

In modern times, wastewater treatment is vital due to increased water contamination arising from pollutants such as nutrients, pathogens, heavy metals, and pharmaceutical residues. Polysaccharides (PSAs) are natural, renewable, and non-toxic biopolymers used in wastewater treatment in the field of gas separation, liquid filtration, adsorption processes, pervaporation, and proton exchange membranes. Since addition of nanoparticles to PSAs improves their sustainability and strength, nanocomposite PSAs has gained significant attention for wastewater treatment in the past decade. This review presents a comprehensive analysis of PSA-based nanocomposites used for efficient wastewater treatment, focusing on adsorption, photocatalysis, and membrane-based methods. It also discusses potential future applications, challenges, and opportunities in adsorption, filtration, and photocatalysis. Recently, PSAs have shown promise as adsorbents in biological-based systems, effectively removing heavy metals that could hinder microbial activity. Cellulose-mediated adsorbents have successfully removed various pollutants from wastewater, including heavy metals, dyes, oil, organic solvents, pesticides, and pharmaceutical residues. Thus, PSA nanocomposites would support biological processes in wastewater treatment plants. A major concern is the discharge of antibiotic wastes from pharmaceutical industries, posing significant environmental and health risks. PSA-mediated bio-adsorbents, like clay polymeric nanocomposite hydrogel beads, efficiently remove antibiotics from wastewater, ensuring water quality and ecosystem balance. The successful use of PSA-mediated bio-adsorbents in wastewater treatment depends on ongoing research to optimize their application and evaluate their potential environmental impacts. Implementing these eco-friendly adsorbents on a large scale holds great promise in significantly reducing water pollution, safeguarding ecosystems, and protecting human health.

Novel Fabrication of Zein-Soluble Soybean Polysaccharide Nanocomposites Induced by Multifrequency Ultrasound, and Their Roles on Microstructure, Rheological Properties and Stability of Pickering Emulsions.

In this work, soluble soybean polysaccharides (SSPS) were employed together with multifrequency ultrasound to fabricate zein nanocomposites which were conducive to enhancing the stability of high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs). Compared with non-ultrasonic treated zein colloidal particle samples (132.23 ± 0.85 nm), the zein nanoparticles samples induced by dual-frequency ultrasound exhibited a smaller particle size (114.54 ± 0.23 nm). Furthermore, the particle size of the zein composite nanoparticles (256.5 ± 4.81) remarkably increased with SPSS coating, consequently leading to larger fluorescence intensity together with lower zeta-potential (−21.90 ± 0.46 mv) and surface hydrophobicity (4992.15 ± 37.28). Meanwhile, zein-SSPS composite nanoparticles induced by DFU showed remarkably enhanced thermal stability. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy were also used to characterize zein-SSPS composite nanoparticles. The results confirmed that DFU combined with SSPS treatment significantly increased β-sheets (from 12.60% ± 0.25 b to 21.53% ± 0.37 c) and reduced α-helix content (34.83% ± 0.71 b to 23.86% ± 0.66 a) remarkably. Notably, HIPEs prepared from zein-SSPS nanocomposites induced by dual-frequency simultaneous ultrasound (DFU) at 40/60 kHz showed better storage stability. HIPEs stabilized by DFU induced zein-SSPS nanoparticles exhibited higher storage modulus (G′) and loss modulus (G″), leading to lower fluidity, together with better stability contributing to the water-binding capacity and three-dimensional (3D) network structure of the HIPEs emulsion. The findings of this study indicate that this method can be utilized and integrated to further extend the application of zein and SSPS and explore HIPEs.

Facile Fabrication of Polysaccharide Nanocomposites Using Ionic Gelation Method

Polysaccharide-based nanomaterials with significant biocompatibility and physiochemical features have been widely analyzed in modern biomedical nanotechnology. Chitosan-coating is an advantageous procedure to provide several pharmacological characteristics of chitosan on the reinforcement. Here, we fabricated polysaccharide nanocomposites using the facile ionic gelation method and sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP) cross-linker. The polysaccharide nanocomposites comprised natural cellulose and chitosan as reinforcement and coating agents, respectively. From the image of the scanning electron microscope, the nanocomposites indicated almost spherical dimensions with sizes below 60 nm. Results from X-ray powder diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy showed multifunctional properties of the nanocomposites related to both cellulose and chitosan. Therefore, the ionic gelation method is potentially appropriate to synthesize the polysaccharide nanocomposites for medically-related applications.

Nanoparticles Based on Hydrophobic Polysaccharide Derivatives-Formation Principles, Characterization Techniques, and Biomedical Applications.

Polysaccharide (PS) nanoparticles (NP) are fascinating materials that combine huge application potential with the unique beneficial features of natural biopolymers. Different types of PS-NP can be distinguished depending on the basic preparation principles (top-down vs bottom-up vs coating of nanomaterials) and the material from which they are obtained (native PS vs chemically modified PS derivatives vs nanocomposites). This review provides a comprehensive overview of an approach towards PS-NP that has gained rapidly increasing interest within the last decade; the nanoself-assembling of hydrophobic PS derivatives. This facile process is easy to perform and offers a broad structural diversity in terms of the PS backbone and the additional functionalities that can be introduced. Fundamental principles of different NP preparation techniques along with useful characterization methods are presented in this work. A comprehensive summary of PS-NP prepared by different techniques and with various PS backbones and types/amounts of hydrophobic substituents is given. The intention is to demonstrate how different parameters determine the size, size distribution, and zeta-potential of the particles. Moreover, application trends in biomedical areas are highlighted in which tailored functional PS-NP are evaluated and constantly developed further.

Self-destructible polysaccharide nanocomposites with unlockable Au nanorods for high-performance photothermal therapy

Multifunctional organic/inorganic nanocomposites are highly attractive for effective biomedical applications. In this work, versatile types of self-destructible polysaccharide (dextran or pullulan) nanocomposites (denoted Au@PSa) with adjustable amounts of unlockable Au nanorods (Au NRs) were fabricated as highly efficient photothermal cancer therapy systems. Taking advantage of the acidic endosomes and high concentration of glutathione (GSH) present in cancer cells, the responsive self-destruction of Au@PSa nanocomposites could unlock the abundant encapsulated Au NRs within cells. Notably, the pullulan-based nanocomposites (denoted Au@Pul) demonstrated liver cell-targeting properties, which could enhance the therapeutic effects while minimizing side effects. The strong absorption of the unlocked Au NRs in the near-infrared region was utilized to examine the photothermal performance. The Au@PSa nanocomposites with a moderate amount of Au NRs in the matrix exhibited very impressive photothermal effects in tumor therapy, where the encapsulated Au NRs were unlocked in the tumor region to realize the observed high performance. The proposed system could be further extended, as the polysaccharides were functionalized with amino groups. The current work provides a facile strategy to construct flexible therapeutic platforms with responsive self-destruction features.

Polysaccharide-based nanocomposites and their applications

Polysaccharide nanocomposites have become increasingly important materials over the past decade. Polysaccharides offer a green alternative to synthetic polymers in the preparation of soft nanomaterials. They have also been used in composites with hard nanomaterials, such as metal nanoparticles and carbon-based nanomaterials. This mini review describes methods for polysaccharide nanocomposite preparation and reviews the various types and diverse applications for these novel materials.

Molecular dynamics simulation of strong interaction mechanisms at wet interfaces in clay–polysaccharide nanocomposites

The thermodynamics of xyloglucan adsorption to montmorillonite clay in water was studied with molecular dynamics simulations.

Polysaccharide Nanocomposites Reinforced with Graphene Oxide and Keratin-grafted Graphene Oxide

ABSTRACTNanocomposites of polysaccharide matrices, chitosan-starch and carboxymethyl cellulose-starch reinforced with graphene oxide and graphene grafted with keratin were developed. Composites films had been prepared for the casting/solvent evaporation method. The nanocomposites of chitosan/starch matrix improved substantially their mechanical properties with respect to the film without reinforcing, obtaining an increase of 929 % in the storage modulus (E’ 35°C) with only 0.5 wt% of graphene oxide and outstanding increments in E’ at 150°C and 200°C when keratin grafted graphene oxide is incorporated (0.1 wt%). In contrast, the graphene oxide incorporated into the carboxymethyl cellulose-starch matrix tends to decrease the stiffness of the film behaving in opposite way to nanocomposite of chitosan/starch matrix.

Polysaccharide Nanocomposites Reinforced with Graphene Oxide and Keratin-Grafted Graphene Oxide

Nanocomposites of polysaccharide matrices, chitosan–starch, and carboxymethyl cellulose-starch reinforced with graphene oxide and graphene grafted with keratin were developed. Composites films had been prepared for the casting/solvent evaporation method. The interaction and distribution of graphene materials in the biopolymer matrices were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the thermomechanical properties were examined using dynamic mechanical analysis. The nanocomposites of the chitosan–starch matrix improved their mechanical properties substantially, with respect to the film without reinforcing, obtaining an increase of 929% in the storage modulus (E′, 35 °C) with only 0.5 wt % of graphene oxide and outstanding increments in E′ at 150 and 200 °C when keratin-grafted graphene oxide is incorporated (0.1 wt %). In contrast, the graphene oxide incorporated into the carboxymethyl cellulose–starch matrix tends to decrease the stiffness of the film, behaving in a manner opposite to that of nanocomposites of the chitosan–starch matrix. Similarly, the incorporation of graphene grafted with keratin shows a decrease in the rigidity of the resulting material. In this way, the importance of compatibility between the graphene and the host matrix to achieve a fine control of interface and manipulate the final properties of the material is demonstrated.

The Preparation and Evaluation of Sodium and Alkylammonium Montmorillonite and Polysaccharide Nanocomposites as Sustained Release Excipients

Nanotechnology has contributed to the creation of several products and industrial methods. Herein we tested the intercalation of biomaterials into inorganic nanolamellae as pharmaceutical excipients. These materials included sodium and alkylammonium montmorillonite, viscogel B8, ethylcellulose, and chitosan, and the intercalation results success was observed with ethylcellulose and viscogel B8. Thus this nanocomposite was tested with dapsone pills as a model in simulated gastric and enteral fluids and showed a close zero order type kinetics and a higher drug release retardation. This data suggests that this nanocomposite has potential not only for colon specific use but also for prolonged release systems coatings.