Polypropylene (PP) can be recycled and used as food packaging in a wide variety of uses, according to a study conducted in Europe. As a rugged polymer, PP is resistant to many chemical solvents and therefore is popular for packaging and labeling, textiles, plastic parts, stationery, car parts, laboratory equipment, and reusable containers. But can [...]
Bioengineered Windpipe Implanted Into Toddler
May 2, 2013 By 1 Comment
A two-and-a-half-year-old girl is the youngest person to have received a bioengineered organ — a windpipe in this case — that was made from plastic fibers and human cells. The successful transplant of the synthetic windpipe on the girl, a Korean-Canadian named Hannah Warren, may give regenerative medicine a huge boost. The surgery, which took [...]
DNA Research Develops New Polymers
March 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment
American scientists have made a breakthrough in building synthetic polymers that could create new or improved biological functions not found in nature, which could produce new biomedical applications. The innovation involves building the synthetic polymers by using DNA as a template. DNA gives scientists the power of natural selection by creating synthetic polymers in much [...]
Coating Improves Polymer’s Use in Surgeries
February 21, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Scientists from North Carolina State University (NCSU) have figured out how to make a polymer that is highly regarded and used in many applications work with fewer complications as a surgical implant, including for spinal surgeries. The high-performance polymer often used for these implants – polyetheretherketone, or PEEK – is preferred over metallic biomaterials for [...]
Polymer Rids Surfaces of Biofilm
February 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment
When a fly lands on your nose, you wrinkle your skin and shake your head to get the bug to go away. Duke University engineers are using the same principle — albeit on a microscopic scale — to prevent bacteria that later ushers in other, larger life from building up on ship’s hulls. They believe [...]
Polymer Gel Transforms at Different Temperatures
January 25, 2013 By Leave a Comment
We’ve all made Jell-O, right? If it’s been too long since you have and you can’t remember how, here’s a refresher: You mix the Jell-O powder into a pot of water. Then you heat it. Then when it cools, it hardens up. Jell-O is a polymer. The key ingredient in the gelatin in the Jell-O [...]
Polymer Ability to Separate Gases Improving
January 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Polymers are being more selective these days about what gases can pass through them, thanks to some U.K. scientists. The standard for polymer membranes was either to allow gases through slowly because of their low permeability or not be very selective by not stopping one gas as another passes through. This lack of utility means [...]
Polymer Foam Reduces Internal Bleeding
January 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Medic! A shout often heard on the battlefield when soldiers are wounded. If the injury is internal and there is significant hemorrhaging in the abdominal area, the chances of survival past the first hour are slim. But thanks to a polymer foam developed by the Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) soldiers [...]
MPC Polymer Has Come a Long Way
December 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Because of advances in scientific techniques, the polymer, 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC), has many biological and medical applications, according to Japanese scientists. Developments in synthesis techniques have given the polymer invaluable potential as a biomaterial, says Yasuhiko Iwasaki at KansaiUniversity and Kazuhiko Ishihara at the University of Tokyo. The polymer can act like a cell membrane, [...]
Cancer-Killing, Heat-Emitting Polymers
December 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Researchers at a North Carolina medical center have manipulated electrically conductive polymers so that when they are exposed to infrared light they generate enough heat to kill colorectal cancer cells. The team, led by Dr. Nicole Levi-Polyachenko, at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center discovered the formulation that gives the polymer nanoparticles two important capabilities for [...]
