: Medical gloves, along with masks and gowns, serve as the initial line of defense against poten-... more : Medical gloves, along with masks and gowns, serve as the initial line of defense against poten-tially infectious microorganisms and hazardous substances in the health sector. During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical gloves played a significant role, as they were widely utilized by society in daily activities as a preventive measure. These products demonstrated their value as important personal protection equipment (PPE) and reaffirmed their relevance as infec-tion-prevention tools. This review describes the evolution of medical gloves since the discovery of vulcanization by Charles Goodyear in 1839, which fostered the development of this industry. Regarding the current market, a comparison of the main properties, benefits, and drawbacks of the most widespread types of sanitary gloves is presented. The most usual gloves are produced from natural rubber (NR), polyisoprene (IR), acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), polychloroprene (CR), polyethylene (PE), and poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC). Furthermore, the environmental impacts of the conventional natural rubber gloves manufacturing process and mitigation strate-gies, such as bioremediation and rubber recycling, are addressed. In order to create new smart medical gloves with improved properties, several biopolymers (e.g. poly(vinyl alcohol) and starch) and additives such as biodegradable fillers (e.g., cellulose and chitin), reinforcing fillers (e.g. silica and cellulose nanocrystals), and antimicrobial agents (e.g., biguanides and quaternary ammonium salts) have been evaluated. This paper covers these smart materials and describes different innovative prototypes of gloves and coatings designed with them.
Isothermal and nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(l-lactide) and its nanocomposites w... more Isothermal and nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(l-lactide) and its nanocomposites with different multiwalled carbon nanotubes (i.e., pristine and functionalized) were investigated. The effects of chain extension and nanofiller content on the crystallization kinetics were also explored. The Avrami analysis was applied as a useful tool for the study of isothermal crystallization kinetics, which was also supported by optical microscopy observations. In addition, in nonisothermal crystallization process, the Avrami and Mo methodologies were used to study the crystallization kinetics as well as the evaluation of activation energy from isoconversional methods. The activation energy was always negative for the process driven by the secondary nucleation. Great differences were found between the studied samples, but activation energy values indicated a favored crystallization (i.e., less negative energies) when functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes were added at a concent...
Medical gloves, along with masks and gowns, serve as the initial line of defense against potentia... more Medical gloves, along with masks and gowns, serve as the initial line of defense against potentially infectious microorganisms and hazardous substances in the health sector. During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical gloves played a significant role, as they were widely utilized throughout society in daily activities as a preventive measure. These products demonstrated their value as important personal protection equipment (PPE) and reaffirmed their relevance as infection prevention tools. This review describes the evolution of medical gloves since the discovery of vulcanization by Charles Goodyear in 1839, which fostered the development of this industry. Regarding the current market, a comparison of the main properties, benefits, and drawbacks of the most widespread types of sanitary gloves is presented. The most common gloves are produced from natural rubber (NR), polyisoprene (IR), acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), polychloroprene (CR), polyethylene (PE), and poly(vinyl chloride) ...
ABSTRACTThe encapsulation of amino acids (AAs) and their correct preservation before they are ing... more ABSTRACTThe encapsulation of amino acids (AAs) and their correct preservation before they are ingested are challenging tasks. Nonpolar (l‐alanine and l‐phenylalanine), polar (l‐cysteine hydrochloride and l‐asparagine), and charged (l‐lysine hydrochloride and l‐aspartic acid) AAs were loaded into biodegradable and nontoxic poly(tetramethylene succinate) (PE44) nanofibers (NFs) with electrospinning. The loading of AAs considerably affected the morphology, topography, thermal properties, and wettability of the PE44 NFs. Furthermore, although the AAs crystallized in a phase separated from the polymeric matrix, the distribution of such crystals changed into PE44 NFs and depended on their chemical nature. Release assays in enzyme‐free solutions provided evidence that very significant amounts of AAs were retained in the NFs after 7 days, whereas assays in the lipase‐containing solution (because lipase performs essential roles in the digestion) showed almost complete release after a few hou...
An electroresponsive hybrid platform for tissue engineering, based on isotactic polypropylene, po... more An electroresponsive hybrid platform for tissue engineering, based on isotactic polypropylene, poly 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene and poly(ε-caprolactone) has been developed.
Different copolymers incorporating terpene oxide units (e.g., limonene oxide) have been evaluated... more Different copolymers incorporating terpene oxide units (e.g., limonene oxide) have been evaluated considering thermal properties, degradability, and biocompatibility. Thus, polycarbonates and polyesters derived from aromatic, monocyclic and bicyclic anhydrides have been considered. Furthermore, ring substitution with myrcene terpene has been evaluated. All polymers were amorphous when evaluated directly from synthesis. However, spherulites could be observed after the slow evaporation of diluted chloroform solutions of polylimonene carbonate, with all isopropene units possessing an R configuration. This feature was surprising considering the reported information that suggested only the racemic polymer was able to crystallize. All polymers were thermally stable and showed a dependence of the maximum degradation rate temperature (from 242 °C to 342 °C) with the type of terpene oxide. The graduation of glass transition temperatures (from 44 °C to 172 °C) was also observed, being higher ...
: Medical gloves, along with masks and gowns, serve as the initial line of defense against poten-... more : Medical gloves, along with masks and gowns, serve as the initial line of defense against poten-tially infectious microorganisms and hazardous substances in the health sector. During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical gloves played a significant role, as they were widely utilized by society in daily activities as a preventive measure. These products demonstrated their value as important personal protection equipment (PPE) and reaffirmed their relevance as infec-tion-prevention tools. This review describes the evolution of medical gloves since the discovery of vulcanization by Charles Goodyear in 1839, which fostered the development of this industry. Regarding the current market, a comparison of the main properties, benefits, and drawbacks of the most widespread types of sanitary gloves is presented. The most usual gloves are produced from natural rubber (NR), polyisoprene (IR), acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), polychloroprene (CR), polyethylene (PE), and poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC). Furthermore, the environmental impacts of the conventional natural rubber gloves manufacturing process and mitigation strate-gies, such as bioremediation and rubber recycling, are addressed. In order to create new smart medical gloves with improved properties, several biopolymers (e.g. poly(vinyl alcohol) and starch) and additives such as biodegradable fillers (e.g., cellulose and chitin), reinforcing fillers (e.g. silica and cellulose nanocrystals), and antimicrobial agents (e.g., biguanides and quaternary ammonium salts) have been evaluated. This paper covers these smart materials and describes different innovative prototypes of gloves and coatings designed with them.
Isothermal and nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(l-lactide) and its nanocomposites w... more Isothermal and nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(l-lactide) and its nanocomposites with different multiwalled carbon nanotubes (i.e., pristine and functionalized) were investigated. The effects of chain extension and nanofiller content on the crystallization kinetics were also explored. The Avrami analysis was applied as a useful tool for the study of isothermal crystallization kinetics, which was also supported by optical microscopy observations. In addition, in nonisothermal crystallization process, the Avrami and Mo methodologies were used to study the crystallization kinetics as well as the evaluation of activation energy from isoconversional methods. The activation energy was always negative for the process driven by the secondary nucleation. Great differences were found between the studied samples, but activation energy values indicated a favored crystallization (i.e., less negative energies) when functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes were added at a concent...
Medical gloves, along with masks and gowns, serve as the initial line of defense against potentia... more Medical gloves, along with masks and gowns, serve as the initial line of defense against potentially infectious microorganisms and hazardous substances in the health sector. During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical gloves played a significant role, as they were widely utilized throughout society in daily activities as a preventive measure. These products demonstrated their value as important personal protection equipment (PPE) and reaffirmed their relevance as infection prevention tools. This review describes the evolution of medical gloves since the discovery of vulcanization by Charles Goodyear in 1839, which fostered the development of this industry. Regarding the current market, a comparison of the main properties, benefits, and drawbacks of the most widespread types of sanitary gloves is presented. The most common gloves are produced from natural rubber (NR), polyisoprene (IR), acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), polychloroprene (CR), polyethylene (PE), and poly(vinyl chloride) ...
ABSTRACTThe encapsulation of amino acids (AAs) and their correct preservation before they are ing... more ABSTRACTThe encapsulation of amino acids (AAs) and their correct preservation before they are ingested are challenging tasks. Nonpolar (l‐alanine and l‐phenylalanine), polar (l‐cysteine hydrochloride and l‐asparagine), and charged (l‐lysine hydrochloride and l‐aspartic acid) AAs were loaded into biodegradable and nontoxic poly(tetramethylene succinate) (PE44) nanofibers (NFs) with electrospinning. The loading of AAs considerably affected the morphology, topography, thermal properties, and wettability of the PE44 NFs. Furthermore, although the AAs crystallized in a phase separated from the polymeric matrix, the distribution of such crystals changed into PE44 NFs and depended on their chemical nature. Release assays in enzyme‐free solutions provided evidence that very significant amounts of AAs were retained in the NFs after 7 days, whereas assays in the lipase‐containing solution (because lipase performs essential roles in the digestion) showed almost complete release after a few hou...
An electroresponsive hybrid platform for tissue engineering, based on isotactic polypropylene, po... more An electroresponsive hybrid platform for tissue engineering, based on isotactic polypropylene, poly 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene and poly(ε-caprolactone) has been developed.
Different copolymers incorporating terpene oxide units (e.g., limonene oxide) have been evaluated... more Different copolymers incorporating terpene oxide units (e.g., limonene oxide) have been evaluated considering thermal properties, degradability, and biocompatibility. Thus, polycarbonates and polyesters derived from aromatic, monocyclic and bicyclic anhydrides have been considered. Furthermore, ring substitution with myrcene terpene has been evaluated. All polymers were amorphous when evaluated directly from synthesis. However, spherulites could be observed after the slow evaporation of diluted chloroform solutions of polylimonene carbonate, with all isopropene units possessing an R configuration. This feature was surprising considering the reported information that suggested only the racemic polymer was able to crystallize. All polymers were thermally stable and showed a dependence of the maximum degradation rate temperature (from 242 °C to 342 °C) with the type of terpene oxide. The graduation of glass transition temperatures (from 44 °C to 172 °C) was also observed, being higher ...
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Papers by Lourdes Franco