MONTICELLI O.

In this work, novel catalytic microflow reactors prepared by 3D printing and based on polylactic acid (PLA), a compostable biopolymer of relevant industrial interest, were developed. To maintain the properties of the polymer bulk, the metal catalyst, namely palladium (Pd), was deposited in the form of nanoclusters on the surface of the inner...

In this work, an innovative approach to covalently anchor cyclodextrins (CDs) on the surface of submicrometric particles, prepared from an equimolar mixture of poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) and poly(D-lactide) (PDLA), was developed. The idea of the applied method lays in the potential reactivity of amino CDs towards the polymer functionalities to...

The work investigated the possibility to develop an easy scalable treatment capable of modifying only the surface of chitosan-based materials, limiting the degradation of the bulk and the burst release of a drug, without compromising the properties of the polymeric matrix. To this aim, microparticles of CHI were superficially coated with...

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The aim of this work was to develop an effective approach to improve the graphite dispersion and, consequently, the electrical conductivity of nanocomposites based on polycaprolactone (PCL) and graphite nanoplates (GNP). With this aim, a polymeric additive was designed to be compatible with the polymer matrix and capable of interacting with the...

This work considers the development of an easy and scalable approach to change the features of poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) films, which is based on the application of a surface treatment with an amino-functionalized polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS). Indeed, the developed approach is based on the potential reactivity of POSS amino group...

The aim of this work was to develop polylactic acid (PLA) based porous films with suitable properties to be used as sensors and absorbers. The formulation was designed to make the films porous, ductile, and conductive and characterized by surface functionalization. The phase inversion method was used to impart porosity to the polymer film....

In this work, the Layer-by-Layer assembly of multilayered coatings comprising graphite oxide (GO) in combination with either chitosan or branched polyethylenimine was employed to modify the surface functional properties of polylactic acid (PLA) films. The aim is to extend the applicability of this biopolymer, which is of great industrial...

The control of nanostructuration of graphene and graphene related materials (GRM) into self-assembled structures is strictly related to the nanoflakes chemical functionalization, which may be obtained via covalent grafting of non-covalent interactions, mostly exploiting π-stacking. As the non-covalent functionalization does not affect the sp2...

Over 85% of human cancers are solid tumors. The effectiveness of anticancer therapy in solid tumors depends on adequate delivery of the therapeutic agent to tumor cells. Inadequate delivery would result in residual tumor cells, which in turn would lead to regrowth of tumors and possibly development of resistant cells. The most prominent option,...

The work was focused on the synthesis and characterization of a polymer designed with suitable features to be applied in the development of graphite nanoplates (GNP)-based nanopapers, prepared by using a solution blending approach, followed by filtration, drying and pressing treatments. Indeed, the polymer was tailored to possess: i) pyrenic...

Over 85% of human cancers are solid tumors. The effectiveness of anticancer therapy in solid tumors depends on adequate delivery of the therapeutic agent to tumor cells. Inadequate delivery would result in residual tumor cells, which in turn would lead to regrowth of tumors and possibly development of resistant cells. The most prominent option,...

A covalent adaptable network based on the thermoreversible cross-linking of an ethylene-propylene rubber through Diels-Alder (DA) reaction was prepared for the first time through melt blending as an environmental-friendly alternative to traditional synthesis in organic solvents. Functionalization of the rubber with furan groups was performed in...

In this work, the preparation of a novel enzyme carrier based on a polymer multicomponent system was assessed. Indeed, the design of the above system considered several issues that are the need of applying a biodegradable polymer carrier, characterized by a nanometric dimension, thus suitable to diffuse into the dense mucus structure, with...

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This manuscript reports the development of functional 3D scaffolds based on chitosan (CHI) and graphite oxide nanoplatelets (GO) for neuronal network growth. To this aim, CHI microparticles, produced by alkaline gelation method, were coated with GO exploiting a simple template-assisted assembly based on the electrostatic attraction in an...

Poly(glycolic acid) (PGA) holds unique properties, including high gas barrier properties, high tensile strength, high resistance to common organic solvents, high heat distortion temperature, high stiffness, as well as fast biodegradability and compostability. Nevertheless, this polymer has not been exploited at a large scale due to its...

The main aim of this study was to test the biopolymer polycaprolactone (PCL) as an electrode modifier for the electrochemical detection of dopamine (DA). PCL was chosen following a search for polymers with the appropriate geometry and functional groups for dopamine detection. The chemical structure and the average molecular weight of the...

Melt blending of homopolymers is an effective way to achieve an attractive combination of polymer properties. Dynamic vulcanization of fatty-acid-based polyester polyol with glycerol and poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) in the presence of hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) was performed with the aim of toughening PLLA. The dynamic vulcanization in an...

The process of Ca2+ mediated gelation of alginate and the fabrication of nanoengineered polyelectrolyte capsules were combined for the preparation of alginate microbeads characterized by the presence of well-defined drug loaded microvoids in their volume. The obtained engineered alginate microbeads are described in terms of their morphology,...