The Promising Role of Chitosan–Poloxamer 188 Nanocrystals in Improving Diosmin Dissolution and Therapeutic Efficacy against Ferrous Sulfate-Induced Hepatic Injury in Rats

Diosmin (DSN) exhibits poor water solubility and low bioavailability. Although nanocrystals (NCs) are successful for improving drug solubility, they may undergo crystal growth. Therefore, DSN NCs were prepared, employing sonoprecipitation utilizing different stabilizers. The optimum stabilizer was combined with chitosan (CS) as an electrostatic stabilizer. NCs based on 0.15% w/v poloxamer 188 (PLX188) as a steric stabilizer and 0.04% w/v CS were selected because they showed the smallest diameter (368.93 ± 0.47 nm) and the highest ζ-potential (+40.43 ± 0.15 mV). Mannitol (1% w/v) hindered NC enlargement on lyophilization. FT-IR negated the chemical interaction of NC components. DSC and XRD were performed to verify the crystalline state. DSN dissolution enhancement was attributed to the nanometric rod-shaped NCs, the high surface area, and the improved wettability. CS insolubility and its diffusion layer may explain controlled DSN release from CS-PLX188 NCs. CS-PLX188 NCs were more stable than PLX188 NCs, suggesting the significance of the combined electrostatic and steric stabilization strategies. The superiority of CS-PLX188 NCs was indicated by the significantly regulated biomarkers, pathological alterations, and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression of the hepatic tissue compared to DSN suspension and PLX188 NCs. Permeation, mucoadhesion, and cellular uptake enhancement by CS may explain this superiority.

Stabilisation of cosmetic compositions using combined emulsifiers

Objectives. This study investigated the surface properties and micelle formation of combined stabilizers, which are a mixture of ionic and nonionic surfactants or different nonionic surfactants, to establish a correlation between the composition of stabilizers and the colloidal–chemical properties of direct emulsions obtained in their presence.Methods. The surface tension at the interface between the aqueous solutions of the combined stabilizers with air and toluene was measured using a digital tensiometer. The sedimentation stability of the emulsions was assessed by the volume of the exfoliated water and oil phases for seven days. The particle sizes of the dispersed phase were determined using an Olympus CX3 bright field microscope equipped with a universal serial bus video camera connection. The rheological properties of the emulsions were evaluated using a rotary viscometer.Results. According to the isotherms of the surface tension of aqueous surfactant solutions at the interface with air and toluene at emulsion preparation temperatures of 50 °C and 65 °C, a mixture of nonionic surfactants exhibited a higher surface activity and lower critical micelle concentration at the interface with toluene. The optimal amount of stabilizers providing stability to the compositions for one month was 4 mass % for a mixture of anionic surfactants and nonionic surfactants and 7 mass % for mixtures of different nonionic surfactants. Emulsions obtained in the presence of a mixture of anionic and nonionic surfactants exhibited higher kinetic sedimentation stability values due to the formation of electrostatic and steric stabilization factors in the system. The developed compositions were microheterogeneous systems, the average droplet diameter of which varied within the range of 1.0–5.7 µm. In terms of rheological properties, emulsions were classified as liquid-like structured systems with coagulation structures; the strength of single contacts between particles of the dispersed phase was (1.6–27.0) × 10-10 N. Conclusions. A comparison of the physicochemical characteristics of the compositions obtained in the presence of organic emulsifiers showed that emulsions stabilized using a mixture of ionic and nonionic surfactants, which form mixed adsorption layers, exhibited the best set of properties.

Improving Fibrin Hydrogels’ Mechanical Properties, through Addition of Silica or Chitosan-Silica Materials, for Potential Application as Wound Dressings

Fibrin is a protein-based hydrogel formed during blood coagulation. It can also be produced in vitro from human blood plasma, and it is capable of resisting high deformations. However, after each deformation process, it loses high amounts of water, which subsequently makes it mechanically unstable and, finally, difficult to manipulate. The objective of this work was to overcome the in vitro fibrin mechanical instability. The strategy consists of adding silica or chitosan-silica materials and comparing how the different materials electrokinetic-surface properties affect the achieved improvement. The siliceous materials electrostatic and steric stabilization mechanisms, together with plasma protein adsorption on their surfaces, were corroborated by DLS and ζ-potential measurements before fibrin gelling. These properties avoid phase separation, favoring homogeneous incorporation of the solid into the forming fibrin network. Young’s modulus of modified fibrin hydrogels was evaluated by AFM to quantitatively measure stiffness. It increased 2.5 times with the addition of 4 mg/mL silica. A similar improvement was achieved with only 0.7 mg/mL chitosan-silica, which highlighted the contribution of hydrophilic chitosan chains to fibrinogen crosslinking. Moreover, these chains avoided the fibroblast growth inhibition onto modified fibrin hydrogels 3D culture observed with silica. In conclusion, 0.7 mg/mL chitosan-silica improved the mechanical stability of fibrin hydrogels with low risks of cytotoxicity. This easy-to-manipulate modified fibrin hydrogel makes it suitable as a wound dressing biomaterial.

Enhanced Dielectric Permittivity of Optimized Surface Modified of Barium Titanate Nanocomposites

High permittivity polymer-ceramic nanocomposite dielectric films take advantage of the ease of flexibility in processing of polymers and the functionality of electroactive ceramic fillers. Hence, films like these may be applied to embedded energy storage devices for printed circuit electrical boards. However, the incompatibility of the hydrophilic ceramic filler and hydrophobic epoxy limit the filler concentration and therefore, dielectric permittivity of these materials. Traditionally, surfactants and core-shell processing of ceramic fillers are used to achieve electrostatic and steric stabilization for adequate ceramic particle distribution but, questions regarding these processes still remain. The purpose of this work is to understand the role of surfactant concentration ceramic particle surface morphology, and composite dielectric permittivity and conductivity. A comprehensive study of barium titanate-based epoxy nanocomposites was performed. Ethanol and 3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilan surface treatments were performed, where the best reduction in particle agglomeration, highest value of permittivity and the lowest value of loss were observed. The results demonstrate that optimization of coupling agent may lead to superior permittivity values and diminished losses that are ~2–3 times that of composites with non-optimized and traditional surfactant treatments.

Pharmaceutical Strategies for Stabilizing Drug Nanocrystals

Background: Nanocrystallization technologies have been widely studied in recent years, as the formulation of drug nanocrystals solves problems of poor drug solubility and bioavailability. However, drug nanocrystals in the size range of 1–1000 nm usually need to be accompanied by stabilizers, such as polymers or surfactants, to enhance their stability. Despite their simplicity, improved dissolution rate, and enhanced bioavailability, the limited stability of nanocrystal formulations has prevented further development. Objective: The most effective way to handle this instability is to use stabilizers. This paper reviews various factors to consider for the production of stable drug nanocrystals and provides suggestions to overcome the problems associated with instability, such as aggregation and Ostwald ripening. Through various examples of stabilizers acting via electrostatic and steric stabilization, this review highlights the scope of enhancing the stability of drug nanocrystals. Conclusion: Studies on stabilizers used in the production of drug nanocrystals are ongoing; various factors, such as the effect of zeta potential on the stability of drug nanosuspensions, have already been revealed. However, it is necessary to determine the most appropriate stabilizer experimentally based on the various mechanisms and factors have been reviewed since the possible interactions between each drug and stabilizer are diverse.

Preparation of Silver Nanoplates and Application in PCB Ink-Jet

Compared with traditional etch processing, inkjet technology has the features of simpler workmanship, less resources-utilizing, lower cost and environmentally friendly adaptation, which is sure to be another innovation of printed circuit board(PCB) technology. In this paper, size and shape controlled silver nanoparticles have been synthesized，which was used as conductive medium in ink-jet inks. Then it was printed into conductive lines on epoxy resin by a drop-on-demand inkjet printer. PVP was used as a polymeric stabilizer providing both electrostatic and steric stabilization. Ag2C2O4 was used to prepared spherical nano-silver. In the preparation of flake-like silver powders, the fully inorganic phase system contains AgNO3 as a silver precursor, DMF as a as a media dissolving silver salt, and PVP as a reducing reagent. The morphologies and structures of the nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was shown that the sample is silver with cubic asymmetry from the pattern of XRD. TEM images indicated that the size of spherical nano-particles was no more than 20 nm. But the small triangular nanoplates, with rather narrow size distribution, were in the range from 20nm up to 60 nm in edge length. The electrical conductivity was also measured by the four-probe tested method after calcined on the substrates. It was shown that the conductivity was 25S/cm when adding the spherical powders and the nano-silver ink has been successfully designed for inkjet printing.