Browsing by Author "Pothen, Laly A."
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Electrospun polylactic acid-chitosan composite: a bio-based alternative for inorganic composites for advanced applicationPublication . Thomas, Merin Sara; Pillai, Prasanth K. S.; Faria, Marisa; Cordeiro, Nereida; Barud, Hernane; Thomas, Sabu; Pothen, Laly A.Fabricating novel materials for biomedical applications mostly require the use of biodegradable materials. In this work biodegradable materials like polylactic acid (PLA) and chitosan (CHS) were used for designing electrospun mats. This work reports the physical and chemical characterization of the PLA-CHS composite, prepared by the electrospinning technique using a mixed solvent system. The addition of chitosan into PLA, offered decrease in fiber diameter in the composites with uniformity in the distribution of fibers with an optimum at 0.4wt% CHS. The fiber formation and the reduction in fiber diameter were confirmed by the SEM micrograph. The inverse gas chromatography and contact angle measurements supported the increase of hydrophobicity of the composite membrane with increase of filler concentration. The weak interaction between PLA and chitosan was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermal analysis. The stability of the composite was established by zeta potential measurements. Cytotoxicity studies of the membranes were also carried out and found that up to 0.6% CHS the composite material was noncytotoxic. The current findings are very important for the design and development of new materials based on polylactic acid-chitosan composites for environmental and biomedical applications.
- Polylactic acid/nano chitosan composite fibers and their morphological, physical characterization for the removal of cadmium(II) from waterPublication . Thomas, Merin S.; Pillai, Prasanth K. S.; Faria, Marisa; Cordeiro, Nereida; Kailas, Lekshmi; Kalarikkal, Nandakumar; Thomas, Sabu; Pothen, Laly A.This work discusses the fabrication of polylactic acid (PLA)/nano chitosan (nCHS) composite fibers by electrospinning method for Cd2+ metal ion adsorption from water. Here nCHS was synthesized by ionic gelation method and which is used as a reinforcement for PLA. The scanning electron microscopic analysis revealed that the addition 0.1 wt% nCHS has decreased the fiber diameter as well as the secondary pore size and hence imparted unique properties to electrospun composite fibers. The positive zeta potential values for the composites indicated their higher stability, though; the inclusion of nCHS reduced the crystallinity of the neat membranes. The contact angle measurements showed that the hydrophilicity of the composite was increased up to 0.1 wt% nCHS, and hence the surface energy was increased. Inverse gas chromatography results suggested that the basic character of the composites has intensified with the increase in nCHS addition. The adsorption capacity of the neat electrospun PLA and PLA–nCHS composites for Cd2+ ions were investigated and studies revealed that adsorption capacity of the composite was two times faster (approximately 70%) in comparison with neat PLA fibers. The increase in surface area as well as presence nCHS improved the adsorption capacity of the electrospun membrane.
- Tissue engineering scaffold material with enhanced cell adhesion and angiogenesis from soy protein isolate loaded with bio modulated micro-TiO2 prepared via prolonged sonication for wound healing applicationsPublication . Koshy, Rekha Rose; Mary, Siji K.; Reghunadhan, Arunima; Dalvi, Yogesh Bharat; Kailas, Lekshmi; Cordeiro, Nereida; Thomas, Sabu; Pothen, Laly A.Tissue engineering is a technique that promotes healing by creating an ideal environment for endogenous cells to migrate and grow into the site of injury via a scaffold, improving regeneration and reducing the time required for in vitro cell culture. In this work, the effect of the addition of sonicated TiO2 in the soy protein isolate (SPI) matrix for tissue engineering applications was studied. In comparison to adding expensive nano TiO2, this method of incorporating sonicated TiO2 into the SPI matrix will aid in achieving improved properties at a lower cost. The effect of the addition of sonicated TiO2 on the morphological, UV transmittance, mechanical, thermal, surface energy, and hydrophilicity of SPI films was investigated. The result shows that the uniformly distributed TiO2 particles successfully blocked 95% of UV light. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a significant reduction in the TiO2 agglomerate size and homogeneous distribution of the same when sonication was applied instead of mechanical dispersion. A simultaneous increase of tensile strength (from 3.16 to 4.58 MPa) and elongation at break values (from 24.25% to 95.31%) with 0.5% TiO2 was observed. The addition of 0.25% TiO2 was found to significantly enhance the elongation at break value to 120.83%. Incorporation of micro-TiO2 particles could improve the surface roughness, surface energy, and wettability of SPI films. In vitro cell adhesion studies and in vivo subcutaneous implantation studies were performed to assess the cell growth and angiogenesis of the developed film membranes. An MTT assay showed that SPI-1%TiO2 film favored cell viability up to 118%, and in vivo subcutaneous implantation studies showed enhanced cell growth and angiogenesis for SPI-1% TiO2 films. This SPI-TiO2 film with enhanced surface properties can be used as an ideal candidate for tissue engineering applications.