This review summarizes the current designs and development of new types of organic small molecules as a hole-transporting material (HTM) in a meso-structured perovskite solar cell (PSC). The roles of ...each layer in the meso-structured perovskite device architecture are elaborated and the employment of new types of organic HTMs in the device is compared with the commercially available HTM spiro-OMeTAD in terms of the properties, device performance and stability. The studies found that nearly half of the new synthesized and pristine HTMs have comparable or better photovoltaic properties than those of doped spiro-OMeTAD. These HTMs have the characteristics of a fused planar core structure with extended pi -conjugated lengths and electron-donating functional groups, which are believed to contribute to their high intrinsic conductivity and help make them an alternative to spiro-OMeTAD as a better HTM in meso-structured PSCs. Some of the devices based on the new synthesized HTMs even have longer device lifetimes than their spiro-OMeTAD-based PSC counterparts. Moreover, studies found that the cost per gram (Cg) and cost-per-peak Watt (Cw) of synthesized HTMs can be reduced via minimizing the number of synthesis steps and by optimization of the starting materials in order to yield low-cost HTMs for meso-structured PSC applications.
Natural rubber (NR) is a high molecular weight natural polymer and can be degraded to liquid natural rubber (LNR) leaving certain functional groups at the end of chains. In this study, LNR samples ...prepared via oxidative degradation using H2O2 and NaNO2 as reagents were found to have different end groups depending on the pH of the reaction medium. In an acidic medium, LNR with hydroxyl terminal groups was formed as the degradation reaction was initiated by hydroxyl radicals produced from decomposition of peroxynitrite acid. In contrast, a redox reaction took place in an alkaline medium to yield LNR with carbonyl terminal groups. The mechanisms of reaction are discussed and proposed to explain the formation of different end groups when reaction carried out in acidic and alkaline media. Chain degradation in an acidic medium seems to be more effective than in an alkaline medium, and thus yields LNR with lower Mn.
Blending hydrogel with an amphiphilic polymer can increase the hydrophobic drug loading and entrapment efficiency of hydrogel-based formulations. In this study, a hydrogel formulation with ...star-shaped polycaprolactone-b-poly(ethylene glycol) (PCL-
-PEG) as the hydrophobic drug cargo is produced. The 4-arm and 6-arm star-shaped PCL are synthesized with different molecular weights (5000, 10,000, 15,000 g/mol) via ROP and MPEG as the hydrophilic segment is attached via the Steglich esterification. FTIR and
H-NMR analysis showed the presence of all functional groups for homopolymers and copolymers. M
for all synthesized polymers is close to the theoretical value while GPC spectra showed a monomodal peak with narrow molecular weight distribution (PDI:1.01-1.25). The thermal degradation temperature and crystalline melting point of synthesized polymers increase with the increase in molecular weight and number of arms. All formulations possess high drug loading and entrapment efficiency (>99%) and increase with increasing molecular weight, number of arms, and amount of polymer in the formulations. All formulations showed a sustained drug release pattern with no initial burst, which follows the Korsmeyer-Peppas kinetic model. The polymer hydrogel formulations showed antibacterial activity against
and
. The hydrogel containing 4-arm PCL
-PEG is chosen as the best formulation due to its high drug release, good antimicrobial activity, and morphology.
Agarose films were formed with the addition of 30 to 70 wt% choline chloride/urea eutectic-based ionic liquid (ChCl/Urea). The ChCl/Urea was prepared through complexation at a 1:2 mole ratio. The ...films were prepared by dissolving ChCl/Urea in distilled water followed by dispersion of the agarose at 95 °C. The solution was gelled at room temperature, and the formed gel was dried in an oven overnight at 70 °C. Mechanical testing indicated that the agarose film containing 60 wt% ChCl/Urea had higher tensile extension and tensile strain at break compared to the pristine agarose film. The addition of ChCl/Urea also reduced the glass transition temperature (Tg) of agarose films. Cross-section SEM images of the agarose films showed that surface roughness disappeared with the incorporation of ChCl/Urea. FTIR spectra confirmed the presence of intermolecular hydrogen bonding between agarose and ChCl/Urea. XRD patterns demonstrated that an amorphous phase was obtained when ChCl/Urea was added. Agarose films containing more ChCl/Urea exhibited higher transparency, as measured by a UV-Vis spectrometer. In summary, the physicochemical properties of agarose films were evidently affected by the incorporation of the ChCl/Urea as a plasticizing agent.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic and irreversible degenerative joint disease that most commonly affects individuals in their forties and fifties worldwide due to the continuously increasing life ...expectancy. Although joint replacement is an effective remedy for severe end-stage OA, the functional outcomes could be unsatisfactory, while the implants might have a limited lifespan. Due to the drawbacks and limitations of the joint replacement approach, bone Tissue Engineering (TE) is one of the promising bone tissue regeneration technologies that aid in cartilage repair and regeneration and has attracted the attention of experts. The advanced development of biopolymers, in particular biopolymer derived from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB), has been utilised in the fabrication of scaffolds that serve as a crucial component in bone TE. The abundant supply of OPEFB biomass and the increasing trend of converting waste into wealth for environmental sustainability have also provided the opportunity and interest to fully apply biopolymer-derived materials for bone scaffolding and other applications. Therefore, this paper aimed to provide a review of the biopolymers derived from OPEFB for the treatment of OA and other related applications. A brief overview of the biomass sources in Malaysia was presented, followed by a discussion on the chemical compositions and pre-treatment methods of OPEFB by using organosolv pre-treatment and enzymatic hydrolysis for maximum glucose recovery, monomer derived from cellulose OPEFB and synthesizing self-curing polymer scaffold. Additionally, a detailed review of the polymeric biomaterials in bone TE for the fabrication of scaffolds were included in this review. Most importantly, the paper described the potential use of injectable polymeric biomaterials that provide a significant benefit in orthopaedic applications. Overall, this paper provides a perspective on the potential of OPEFB-derived injectable scaffolds as an alternative OA treatment and future bone TE applications.
The administration of poorly water-soluble drugs represents a relevant problem due to the low body fluids transport efficiency through hydrophilic hydrogels. Star-shaped co-polymers, i.e., ...amphiphilic polymers such as those with a hydrophobic core and a hydrophilic outer shell, can be used to improve weak interactions with drugs, with relevant benefits in terms of administration and controlled delivery. In this work, two different co-polymers, four-arm star-shaped PCL-PEG and six-arm star-shaped PCL-PEG, were synthesized via ring-opening polymerization to be loaded with ciprofloxacin.
H-NMR and FTIR analyses confirmed that PCL arms were successfully grafted to the mPEG backbone, while DSC analysis indicated similar crystallinity and melting point, ranging from 56 to 60 °C, independent of the different co-polymer architecture. Therefore, both star-shaped PCL-PEGs were investigated as cargo device for ciprofloxacin. No significant differences were observed in terms of drug entrapment efficiency (>95%) and drug release, characterized by a pronounced burst followed by a slow sustained release, only slightly affected by the co-polymer architecture. This result was also confirmed with curve fitting via the Korsmeyer-Peppas model. Lastly, good antibacterial properties and biocompatibility exhibited in both star-shaped PCL-PEG co-polymers suggest a promising use for oral delivery applications.
Emerging dye pollution from textile industrial effluents is becoming more challenging for researchers worldwide. The contamination of water by dye effluents affects the living organisms in an ...ecosystem. Methylene blue (MB) and malachite green (MG) are soluble dyes with a high colour intensity even at low concentration and are hazardous to living organisms. The adsorption method is used in most wastewater plants for the removal of organic pollutants as it is cost-effective, has a high adsorption capacity, and good mechanical stabilities. In this study, a composite adsorbent was prepared by impregnating iron modified silica (FMS) onto polyurethane (PU) foam to produce an iron modified silica/polyurethane (FMS/PU) composite. The composite adsorbent was utilised in batch adsorption of the cationic dyes MB and MG. The effect of adsorption parameters such as the adsorbent load, pH, initial dye concentration, and contact time were discussed. Adsorption kinetics and isotherm were implemented to understand the adsorption mechanism for both dyes. It was found that the adsorption of MB and MG followed the pseudo-second order model. The Langmuir model showed a better fit than the Freundlich model for the adsorption of MB and MG, indicating that the adsorption occurred via the monolayer adsorption system. The maximum adsorption capacity of the FMS/PU obtained for MB was 31.7 mg/g, while for MG, it was 34.3 mg/g. The thermodynamic study revealed that the adsorption of MB and MG were exothermic and spontaneous at room temperature. In addition, the regeneration of FMS/PU was conducted to investigate the composite efficiency in adsorbing dyes for several cycles. The results showed that the FMS/PU composite could be regenerated up to four times when the regeneration efficiency dropped drastically to less than 20.0%. The impregnation of FMS onto PU foam also minimised the adsorbent loss into the environment.
Nanofluid has attracted great attention due to its superior thermal properties. In this study, chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline was carried out in the presence of dodecylbenzenesulfonic ...acid (DBSA) as a dopant. Particles of DBSA-doped polyaniline (DBSA-doped PANI) with the size range of 15 to 50 nm were obtained, as indicated by transmission electron microscope (TEM). Results of ultra violet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies as well as thermogravimetric analysis showed that PANI nanoparticles were doped with DBSA molecules. The doping level found was 36.8%, as calculated from elemental analysis data. Thermal conductivity of water was enhanced by 5.4% when dispersed with 1.0 wt% of DBSA-PANI nanoparticles. Specific heat capacity of water-based nanofluids decreased with increasing amount of DBSA-PANI nanoparticles.
Oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber (OPEFB) is a lignocellulosic waste from palm oil mills. It contains mainly cellulose from which glucose can be derived to serve as raw materials for valuable ...chemicals such as succinic acid. A three-level Box-Behnken design combined with the canonical and ridge analysis was employed to optimize the process parameters for glucose production from OPEFB cellulose using enzymatic hydrolysis. Organosolv pretreatment was used to extract cellulose from OPEFB using ethanol and water as the solvents. The extracted cellulose was characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, FTIR spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy. Hydrolysis parameters including amount of enzyme, amount of cellulose, and reaction time were investigated. The experimental results were fitted with a second-order polynomial equation by a multiple regression analysis and found that more than 97% of the variations could be predicted by the models. Using the ridge analysis, the optimal conditions reaction time found for the production of glucose was 76 hours and 30 min, whereas the optimum amount of enzyme and cellulose was 0.5 mL and 0.9 g, respectively. Under these optimal conditions, the corresponding response value predicted for glucose concentration was 169.34 g/L, which was confirmed by validation experiments.
The synthesis of a macro-initiator from cellulose in mixtures of zinc-based ionic liquid and polar solvents including deep eutectic solvent, dimethylformamide, acetone, and tetrahydrofuran (THF) was ...studied. The results of FTIR and NMR spectroscopies indicated that the cellulose-based macro-initiator can only be obtained in an inert ether solvent, THF. When the amounts of cellulose and zinc-based ionic liquid were fixed at 0.5 g and 18 mL, respectively, the degree of substitution of the cellulose-based macro-initiator obtained was increased from 11.0% to 17.4% as the reaction temperature was increased from room temperature to 40 oC, as calculated from TGA thermograms. When the amount of cellulose was cut in half, a degree of substitution of 27.5% was achieved due to lower viscosity and better homogeneity of the reaction medium. A green, new, and relatively cheap approach has been shown to be suitable for synthesizing a cellulose-based macro-initiator.
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