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Polymers
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(Nano)Cellulose in Biomedical Research
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(Nano)Cellulose in Biomedical Research

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Circular and Green Polymer Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2022) | Viewed by 19802

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Wei Zhang

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Polymer Research Institute at Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Interests: nanofibers; UHMWPE fibers; electrospinning; gel spinning; 3D printing; polymer composites; water treatment; biomaterials; energy storage materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Bin Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266101, China
Interests: lignocellulose; nanomaterials from biomass; natural polymers; functional materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ximu Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Chongqing Municipal Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedical Engineering of Higher Education, Chongqing Medical University; Chongqing 401174, China
Interests: biopolymers; hydrogel; adhesive; tissue engineering;

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nanocellulose is abundant and renewable in nature, representing a very appealing material among various kinds of nanomaterials. Nanocellulose exhibits outstanding mechanical properties together with low density, high specific surface area, and tunable surface chemistry. In addition, its other coveted characteristics, such as it high hydrophilicity, low solubility, low toxicity, biodegradability, and biocompatibility, have made nanocellulose a promising material for use in different biomedical applications. This Special Issue is dedicated to promoting outstanding research concerning nanocellulose for biomedical applications, including wound dressing, drug delivery, tissue engineering scaffolds, biosensors, biomedical implants, and beyond, with a focus on state-of-the-art progress, development, and new trends. Perspectives, review articles, full paper, short communication, and technical papers on this topic are all welcome.

Dr. Wei Zhang
Dr. Bin Li
Dr. Ximu Zhang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • nanocellulose
  • wound dressing
  • drug delivery
  • tissue engineering
  • biosensor
  • biomedical implant

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 3735 KiB  
Article
Potential of a Composite Conduit with Bacterial Nanocellulose and Fish Gelatin for Application as Small-Diameter Artificial Blood Vessel
by Luhan Bao, Can Li, Man Tang, Lin Chen and Feng F. Hong
Polymers 2022, 14(20), 4367; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14204367 - 17 Oct 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2404
Abstract
Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) has received great attention for application as an artificial blood vessel material. However, many results showed that pristine BNC could not perfectly meet all the demands of blood vessels, especially for rapid endothelialization. In order to improve the properties of [...] Read more.
Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) has received great attention for application as an artificial blood vessel material. However, many results showed that pristine BNC could not perfectly meet all the demands of blood vessels, especially for rapid endothelialization. In order to improve the properties of small-caliber vessels, different concentrations of fish gelatin (Gel) were deposited into the 3D network tubes and their properties were explored. The BNC/Gel composite tubes were treated with glutaraldehyde to crosslink BNC and fish gelatin. Compared with pristine BNC tubes, the BNC/Gel tubes had a certain improvement in mechanical properties. In vitro cell culture demonstrated that the human endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human smooth muscle cells (HSMCs) planted on the internal walls of BNC/Gel tubes showed better adhesion, higher proliferation and differentiation potential, and a better anticoagulation property, as compared to the cells cultured on pristine BNC tubes. Whole-blood coagulation experiments showed that the BNC/Gel tube had better properties than the BNC tube, and the hemolysis rate of all samples was less than 1.0%, satisfying the international standards for medical materials. An increase in the content of fish gelatin also increased the mechanical properties and the biocompatibility of small-caliber vessels. Considering the properties of BNC/Gel tubes, 1.0 wt/v% was selected as the most appropriate concentration of fish gelatin for a composite. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue (Nano)Cellulose in Biomedical Research)
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12 pages, 3099 KiB  
Article
Facile Fabrication of Cellulose Nanofibrils/Chitosan Beads as the Potential pH-Sensitive Drug Carriers
by Meiyan Wu, Wangfang Deng, Yidong Zhang, Chao Chen, Zhexuan Liu, Pedram Fatehi and Bin Li
Polymers 2022, 14(11), 2286; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14112286 - 4 Jun 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2357
Abstract
It is highly desirable to develop a safe, highly efficient, and biodegradable drug carrier with an enhanced drug transport efficiency. Cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) and chitosan (CS) composite hydrogels are promising candidate carriers with biological compatibility and non-cytotoxicity. Herein, the CNF/CS composite beads were [...] Read more.
It is highly desirable to develop a safe, highly efficient, and biodegradable drug carrier with an enhanced drug transport efficiency. Cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) and chitosan (CS) composite hydrogels are promising candidate carriers with biological compatibility and non-cytotoxicity. Herein, the CNF/CS composite beads were prepared by dissolving cellulose and CS in LiBr molten salt hydrate and regenerating in ethanol. This preparation method is facile and efficient, and the obtained porous CNF/CS beads with the weight ratio of 8:2 exhibited a large specific surface area, uniform micro-nano-sized pores, strong mechanical property, and water absorption-resistance. Moreover, these beads as drug (tetracycline hydrochloride, TH) carriers showed a higher encapsulation efficiency (47.4%) at the TH concentration of 5 mg/mL in 24 h, and a higher drug loading rate (12.0%) than pure CNF and other CNF/CS beads prepared with different ratios. In addition, the TH releasing behavior of CNF/CS (8:2) beads fitted well into the zero-order, first-order, and Higuchi models under an acid condition, indicating that the drug release of these pH-sensitive beads was mainly affected by drug concentration under an acid condition. Therefore, these CNF/CS beads have great potential to be used as drug carriers for medical applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue (Nano)Cellulose in Biomedical Research)
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14 pages, 4932 KiB  
Article
Tailoring Interfacial Adhesion between PBAT Matrix and PTFE-Modified Microcrystalline Cellulose Additive for Advanced Composites
by Hongkun Wang, Xuran Liu, Jinfeng Liu, Min Wu and Yong Huang
Polymers 2022, 14(10), 1973; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14101973 - 12 May 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4641
Abstract
Cellulose materials have the potential to serve as sustainable reinforcement in polymer composites, but they suffer from challenges in improving interfacial compatibility with polymers through surface modification. Here, we propose adjusting the interfacial compatibility between microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) [...] Read more.
Cellulose materials have the potential to serve as sustainable reinforcement in polymer composites, but they suffer from challenges in improving interfacial compatibility with polymers through surface modification. Here, we propose adjusting the interfacial compatibility between microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) through the strategy based on surface energy regulation. Mechanical ball milling with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) powder was used to simultaneously pulverize, and surface modify MCC to produce MCC sheets with different surface energy. The modified MCC was used to reinforce PBAT composites by simple melt blending. The surface morphology, surface energy of MCC, and the amount of friction transferred PTFE during ball milling were characterized. The mechanical performance, composite morphology, crystallization behavior and dynamic thermomechanical analysis of the composites were investigated. The interfacial adhesion strength of composites closely relates to the surface energy of modified MCC. When the surface energy of MCC is closer to that of the PBAT matrix, it exhibits the better interfacial adhesion strength, resulting in the increased mechanical properties, crystallization temperature, storage modulus, and loss modulus. This work provides effective strategy for how to design fillers to obtain high-performance composites. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue (Nano)Cellulose in Biomedical Research)
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12 pages, 2158 KiB  
Article
Polyethylenimine-Functionalized Nanofiber Nonwovens Electrospun from Cotton Cellulose for Wound Dressing with High Drug Loading and Sustained Release Properties
by Qunhao Wang, Mei Li, Zhuo Zheng, Yan Niu, Xiaolin Xue, Chenghong Ao, Wei Zhang and Canhui Lu
Polymers 2022, 14(9), 1748; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14091748 - 26 Apr 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2563
Abstract
Electrospun cellulose nanofiber nonwovens have shown promise in wound dressing owing to the highly interconnected pore structure, high hydrophilicity coupled with other coveted characteristics of biodegradability, biocompatibility and renewability. However, electrospun cellulose wound dressings with loaded drugs for better wound healing have been [...] Read more.
Electrospun cellulose nanofiber nonwovens have shown promise in wound dressing owing to the highly interconnected pore structure, high hydrophilicity coupled with other coveted characteristics of biodegradability, biocompatibility and renewability. However, electrospun cellulose wound dressings with loaded drugs for better wound healing have been rarely reported. In this study, a novel wound dressing with a high drug loading capacity and sustained drug release properties was successfully fabricated via electropinning of cellulose followed by polyethylenimine (PEI)-functionalization. Remarkably, the grafted PEI chains on the surface of electrospun cellulose nanofibers provided numerous active amino groups, while the highly porous structure of nonwovens could be well retained after modification, which resulted in enhanced adsorption performance against the anionic drug of sodium salicylate (NaSA). More specifically, when immersed in 100 mg/L NaSA solution for 24 h, the as-prepared cellulose-PEI nonwoven displayed a multilayer adsorption behavior. And at the optimal pH of 3, a high drug loading capacity of 78 mg/g could be achieved, which was 20 times higher than that of pristine electrospun cellulose nonwoven. Furthermore, it was discovered that the NaSA-loaded cellulose-PEI could continuously release the drug for 12 h in simulated body fluid (SBF), indicating the versatility of cellulose-PEI as an advanced wound dressing with drug carrier functionalities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue (Nano)Cellulose in Biomedical Research)
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Review

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24 pages, 2867 KiB  
Review
Nanocellulose-Based Composite Materials Used in Drug Delivery Systems
by Ying Huo, Yingying Liu, Mingfeng Xia, Hong Du, Zhaoyun Lin, Bin Li and Hongbin Liu
Polymers 2022, 14(13), 2648; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14132648 - 29 Jun 2022
Cited by 52 | Viewed by 6480
Abstract
Nanocellulose has lately emerged as one of the most promising “green” materials due to its unique properties. Nanocellulose can be mainly divided into three types, i.e., cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs), and bacterial cellulose (BC). With the rapid development of technology, nanocellulose [...] Read more.
Nanocellulose has lately emerged as one of the most promising “green” materials due to its unique properties. Nanocellulose can be mainly divided into three types, i.e., cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs), and bacterial cellulose (BC). With the rapid development of technology, nanocellulose has been designed into multidimensional structures, including 1D (nanofibers, microparticles), 2D (films), and 3D (hydrogels, aerogels) materials. Due to its adaptable surface chemistry, high surface area, biocompatibility, and biodegradability, nanocellulose-based composite materials can be further transformed as drug delivery carriers. Herein, nanocellulose-based composite material used for drug delivery was reviewed. The typical drug release behaviors and the drug release mechanisms of nanocellulose-based composite materials were further summarized, and the potential application of nanocellulose-based composite materials was prospected as well. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue (Nano)Cellulose in Biomedical Research)
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