Water purification technologies possibly based on eco-sustainable, low cost, and multifunctional materials are being intensively pursued to resolve the current water scarcity and pollution. In this scenario, polysulfone hollow porous granules (PS-HPGs) prepared from scraps of the industrial production of polysulfone hollow fiber membranes were recently introduced as adsorbents and filtration materials for water and air treatment. Here, we report the functionalization of PS-HPGs with polydopamine (PD) nanoparticles for the preparation of a new versatile and efficient adsorbent material, namely, PSPD-HPGs. The in situ growth of PD under mild alkaline oxidative polymerization allowed us to stably graft PD on polysulfone granules. Enhanced removal efficiency of ofloxacin, an antibiotic drug, with an improvement up to 70% with respect to the pristine PS-HPGs, and removal of Zn(II) and Ni(II) were also observed after PD modification. Remarkably, removal of Cu(II) ions with an efficiency up to 80% was observed for PSPD-HPGs, whereas no adsorption was found for the PD-free precursor. Collectively, these data show that modification with a biocompatible polymer such as PD provides a simple and valuable tool to enlarge the field of application of polysulfone hollow granules for water remediation from both organic and metal cation contaminants.

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) are recognized as one of the most beneficial tools for biomedicine, especially in theranostic applications. Even though SPIONs have excellent properties regarding their biocompatibility and unique magnetic properties, they lack stability in biological fluids. To stabilize and increase the specificity of the SPIONs to target desirable cells or tissues, several surface coatings have been introduced. These surface coatings can lead to different preferences of serum protein bindings, which ultimately determine their behaviors in vitro and in vivo. Thus, understanding the interaction of SPIONs with biological systems is important for their biocompatible design and clinical applications. In this study, using proteomic analyses, we analyzed the protein corona fingerprints on SPIONs with two different coatings, including citrate and riboflavin, that have been widely used as surface coatings and ligands for enhancing cellular uptake in breast cancer cells. Though both citrate-coated SPIONs (C-SPIONs) and riboflavin-coated SPIONs (Rf-SPIONs) showed similar sizes and zeta potentials, we found that Rf-SPIONs adsorbed more serum proteins than bare SPIONs (B-SPIONs) or C-SPIONs, which was likely due to the higher hydrophobicity of the riboflavin. The enriched proteins consisted mainly of immune-responsive and blood coagulation proteins with different fingerprint profiles. Cellular uptake studies in MCF-7 breast cancer cells comparing the activities of preformed and in situ coronas showed different uptake behaviors, suggesting the role of protein corona formation in promoting the interaction between the SPIONs and the cells. The results obtained here provide the essential information for further development of the potential strategy to reduce or stimulate immune response in vivo to increase therapeutic applications of both C-SPIONs and Rf-SPIONs.

Defects and disorders of the bone due to disease, trauma, or abnormalities substantially affect a person's life quality. Research in bone tissue engineering is motivated to address these clinical needs. The present study demonstrates casein-mediated liquid exfoliation of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and its coupling with alginate to create microspheres to engineer bone graft substitutes. Casein-exfoliated nano-MoS2 was chemically characterized using different analytical techniques. The UV-visible spectrum of nano-MoS2-2 displayed strong absorption peaks at 610 and 668 nm. In addition, the XPS spectra confirmed the presence of the molybdenum (Mo, 3d), sulfur (S, 2p), carbon (C, 1s), oxygen (O, 1s), and nitrogen (N, 1s) elements. The exfoliated MoS2 nanosheets were biocompatible with the MG-63, MC3T3-E1, and C2C12 cells at 250 μg/mL concentration. Further, microspheres were created using alginate, and they were characterized physiochemically and biologically. Stereomicroscopic images showed that the microspheres were spherical with an average diameter of 1 ± 0.2 mm. The dispersion of MoS2 in the alginate matrix was uniform. The alginate-MoS2 microspheres promoted apatite formation in the SBF (simulated body fluid) solution. Moreover, the alginate-MoS2 was biocompatible with MG-63 cells and promoted cell proliferation. Higher alkaline phosphatase activity and mineralization were observed on the alginate-MoS2 with the MG-63 cells. Hence, the developed alginate-MoS2 microsphere could be a potential candidate for a bone graft substitute.

In bone tissue engineering, multifunctional composite materials are very challenging. Bone tissue engineering is an innovative technique to develop biocompatible scaffolds with suitable orthopedic applications with enhanced antibacterial and mechanical properties. This research introduces a polymeric nanocomposite scaffold based on arabinoxylan-co-acrylic acid, nano-hydroxyapatite (nHAp), nano-aluminum oxide (nAl2O3), and graphene oxide (GO) by free-radical polymerization for the development of porous scaffolds using the freeze-drying technique. These polymeric nanocomposite scaffolds were coated with silver (Ag) nanoparticles to improve antibacterial activities. Together, nHAp, nAl2O3, and GO enhance the multifunctional properties of materials, which regulate their physicochemical and biomechanical properties. Results revealed that the Ag-coated polymeric nanocomposite scaffolds had excellent antibacterial properties and better microstructural properties. Regulated morphological properties and maximal antibacterial inhibition zones were found in the porous scaffolds with the increasing amount of GO. Moreover, the nanosystem and the polymeric matrix have improved the compressive strength (18.89 MPa) and Young's modulus (198.61 MPa) of scaffolds upon increasing the amount of GO. The biological activities of the scaffolds were investigated against the mouse preosteoblast cell lines (MC3T3-E1) and increasing the quantities of GO helps cell adherence and proliferation. Therefore, our findings showed that these silver-coated polymeric nanocomposite scaffolds have the potential for engineering bone tissue.

Fog formation on transparent surfaces constitutes a major challenge in several optical applications, such as plastic packaging, lenses, mirrors, and windshields. To overcome this problem, we prepared and characterized durable antifog thin coatings on plastic films such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Proteinoids are biocompatible random polymers made of α-amino acids by thermal step-growth polymerization. Proteinoid prepolymers were prepared by adding activated double bonds to proteinoids via the Michael addition reaction. A series of thin antifog cross-linked coatings were prepared by spreading on PET films with a Mayer rod various mixtures of the proteinoid prepolymers, polyethylene glycol diacrylate, and a photoinitiator, followed by UV-curing of the dried coatings. The antifog properties of the coatings were determined by the contact angle, roughness, haze, and gloss measurements, as well as hot and cold fog tests, to examine the optical properties of the films under fog formation conditions. Mechanical properties such as adhesion, robustness, and abrasion resistance of the antifog coatings were examined by tape, knife-scratch, and sandpaper abrasion tests. The effect of coating composition, wettability, and roughness on the antifog properties of the coated PET films was elucidated. The formula was optimized, and the corresponding UV-cured antifog cross-linked thin coating exhibited transparency with good adhesion and excellent durable antifog performance.

In the present work, bioaugmented zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) were prepared from aqueous fruit extracts of Myristica fragrans. The ZnO-NPs were characterized by different techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The crystallites exhibited a mean size of 41.23 nm measured via XRD and were highly pure, while SEM and TEM analyses of synthesized NPs confirmed their spherical or elliptical shape. The functional groups responsible for stabilizing and capping of ZnO-NPs were confirmed using FTIR analysis. The ζ-size and ζ-potential of synthesized ZnO-NPs were reported as 66 nm and -22.1 mV, respectively, via the DLS technique can be considered as moderate stable colloidal solution. Synthesized NPs were used to evaluate for their possible antibacterial, antidiabetic, antioxidant, antiparasitic, and larvicidal properties. The NPs were found to be highly active against bacterial strains both coated with antibiotics and alone. Klebsiella pneumoniae was found to be the most sensitive strain against NPs (27 ± 1.73) and against NPs coated with imipinem (26 ± 1.5). ZnO-NPs displayed outstanding inhibitory potential against enzymes protein kinase (12.23 ± 0.42), α-amylase (73.23 ± 0.42), and α-glucosidase (65.21 ± 0.49). Overall, the synthesized NPs have shown significant larvicidal activity (77.3 ± 1.8) against Aedes aegypti, the mosquitoes involved in the transmission of dengue fever. Similarly, tremendous leishmanicidal activity was also observed against both the promastigote (71.50 ± 0.70) and amastigote (61.41 ± 0.71) forms of the parasite. The biosynthesized NPs were found to be excellent antioxidant and biocompatible nanomaterials. Biosynthesized ZnO-NPs were also used as photocatalytic agents, resulting in 88% degradation of methylene blue dye in 140 min. Owing to their eco-friendly synthesis, nontoxicity, and biocompatible nature, ZnO-NPs synthesized from M. fragrans can be exploited as potential candidates for biomedical and environmental applications.

Novel multifunctional biocomposite materials that mimic the properties of bone are the need of the hour. In view of this, the current work is focused on the fabrication of a snail shells derived europium-substituted hydroxyapatite (Eu-HAP)/poly(3,4-propylenedioxythiophene) (PProDOT)/Calotropis gigantea fiber (CGF) ternary composite on titanium (Ti) for biomedical applications. The structural, morphological, mechanical, electrochemical, and biological properties of the as-developed coatings on Ti were characterized. The obtained results clearly confirmed the formation and properties of the ternary composite (Eu-HAP/PProDOT/CGF). The presence of CGF, an exceptional reinforcement material, in the ternary composite is proven to improve mechanical and biological properties compared to other coatings (i.e., coating without CGF). Also, electrochemical studies revealed better anticorrosion properties of the composite-coated Ti in a simulated body fluid (SBF) solution. Similarly, the presence of Eu-HAP and PProDOT in the composite is clearly evident from the antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) and also by the cell proliferation and cell adhesion by the MTT assay test. Thus, we suggest that the fabricated Eu-HAP/PProDOT/CGF ternary composite with mechanical, corrosion resistance, and biocompatible properties might be an appropriate candidate for biomedical applications.