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Abstract: Nanocellulose is considered a promising and sustainable biomaterial, with excellent properties of biorenewability with improved mechanical properties. As a unique natural biopolymer, it has been applied to many different industries, where efficient and environmentally friendly productions are in demand. For the first time, ferns from the class Polypodiopsida were used for the isolation of cellulose fibers, which was performed using a chemo-mechanical method. As chemical treatment plays a crucial role in the isolation of nanocellulose, it affects the efficiency of the extraction process, as well as the properties of the resulting nanocellulose. Therefore, mechanical fibrillation was performed via grinding, while the chemical process consisted of three different treatments: alkali treatment, bleaching, and acid hydrolysis. In three different experiments, each treatment was separately prolonged to investigate the differing properties of isolated nanocellulose. Structural analysis and morphological analysis were investigated by SEM, EDS, FT-IR, and DLS. The thermal stability of cellulose fibers was investigated by TGA/DSC. The morphology of obtained nanocellulose was confirmed via SEM analysis for all samples, with particles ranging from 20 nm up to 600 nm, while the most consistent sizes were observed for NC3, ranging from 20 to 60 nm. FT-IR spectra showed prominent absorption peaks corresponding to cellulose, as well as the absence of absorption peaks, corresponding to lignin and hemicellulose. The EDS confirmed the elemental purity of nanocellulose, while TGA/DSC indicated higher thermal stability of nanocellulose, compared to untreated fern, which started to degrade earlier than nanocellulose. Such characteristics with unique properties make nanocellulose a versatile biomaterial for the industrial production of cellulosic materials.
Keywords: nanocellulose, isolation, Polypodiophyta fern, chemo-mechanical method, biomaterial, biopolymers
Published in DKUM: 31.01.2025; Views: 0; Downloads: 2
Full text (3,75 MB)

Abstract: Magistrsko delo predstavlja sintezo, razvoj in karakterizacijo do sedaj še neobstoječih biorazgradljivih materialov - aerogelov z aktivnim kisikom za namene hitrejšega celjenja ran. Kot vhodna materiala smo uporabili polisaharid ksantan in biopolimer polilaktično kislino (PLA), ki sta biokompatibilna in cenovno dostopna. Ksantan služi kot osnovni material, ki enkapsulira aktivne učinkovine za namene kontroliranega sproščanja, medtem ko PLA izboljša mehanske lastnosti našega materiala. V sklopu našega raziskovalnega dela smo po sol-gel postopku s kombiniranjem PLA v etil laktatu ter ksantana v vodi pripravili kompozitne hidrogele. S superkritičnim sušenjem smo jih pretvorili v aerogele in okarakterizirali s plinsko adsorpcijo. S tem smo določili velikost specifičnih površin (BET), ki so dosegle vrednosti do 396 m2/g, ter povprečno velikosto in prostornino por v mezoporoznem območju. Izvedli smo tudi termično analizo z DSC/TGA, test nabrekanja in stabilnosti ter z njimi ocenili termično stabilnost in lastnosti razpada materialov. Rezultati so pokazali, da je kombinacija ksantana in PLA podaljšala stabilnost materiala v simulirani telesni tekočini (SBF) tudi do 72 ur. Materiali z večjo vsebnostjo PLA so absorbirali SBF do 67 kratnika svoje mase, kar je najverjetneje posledica boljše stabilnosti v SBF. Sestavo aerogelov in s tem prisotnost posameznih komponent smo potrdili z analizo FT IR. Glede na rezultate karakterizacije smo izbrali dva materiala z najobetavnejšimi lastnostmi, ter v njiju vključili učinkovini, ki ob stiku z rano generirata kisik, ter zdravilno učinkovino deksametazon. Sproščanje kisika iz materiala smo določili s standardno metodo izpodrivanja vode, pri kateri je bila količina izpodrinjene vode neposredno sorazmerna količini nastalega kisika. Meritve smo izvajali 48 ur, rezultati pa so pokazali, da je material sproščal kisik v celotnem časovnem intervalu. Testirali smo tudi sproščanje deksametazona v SBF, ki je bilo uspešno v primeru obeh impregniranih aerogelov. Nazadnje smo preverili antimikrobno delovanje materialov proti bakterijam Escherichia coli in Staphylococcus aureus. Oba aerogela sta inhibirala rast bakterij in s tem izkazala antimikrobno učinkovitost.
Keywords: aerogel, aktivni kisik, biomaterial, celjenje kroničnih ran, kontrolirano sproščanje
Published in DKUM: 18.09.2023; Views: 487; Downloads: 213
Full text (4,25 MB)