Browsing by Author "Rydzkowski, Tomasz"

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    Biopolymers for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications: Recent advances and overview of alginate electrospinning
    (MDPI, 2019-03-10) Wróblewska-Krepsztul, Jolanta; Rydzkowski, Tomasz; Michalska-Pożoga, Iwona; Thakur, Vijay Kumar
    Innovative solutions using biopolymer-based materials made of several constituents seems to be particularly attractive for packaging in biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. In this direction, some progress has been made in extending use of the electrospinning process towards fiber formation based on biopolymers and organic compounds for the preparation of novel packaging materials. Electrospinning can be used to create nanofiber mats characterized by high purity of the material, which can be used to create active and modern biomedical and pharmaceutical packaging. Intelligent medical and biomedical packaging with the use of polymers is a broadly and rapidly growing field of interest for industries and academia. Among various polymers, alginate has found many applications in the food sector, biomedicine, and packaging. For example, in drug delivery systems, a mesh made of nanofibres produced by the electrospinning method is highly desired. Electrospinning for biomedicine is based on the use of biopolymers and natural substances, along with the combination of drugs (such as naproxen, sulfikoxazol) and essential oils with antibacterial properties (such as tocopherol, eugenol). This is a striking method due to the ability of producing nanoscale materials and structures of exceptional quality, allowing the substances to be encapsulated and the drugs/biologically active substances placed on polymer nanofibers. So, in this article we briefly summarize the recent advances on electrospinning of biopolymers with particular emphasis on usage of Alginate for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications.
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    On the morphological investigation of Pt dispersion and structure of alumina-platinum composites obtained by thermal oxidation of Al-Pt nano thin layers
    (Elsevier, 2019-01-30) Reszka, Kazimierz; Morgiel, Jerzy; Rydzkowski, Tomasz; Kumar Thakur, Vijay
    This article presents the methodology for the Pt/Al and Pt/Al nanolaminates production as well as Pt + Al composites using two magnetrons by preparing the oxide-metal composites through high temperature oxidation of nanofilms deposited by PVD method on a metal substrate. In this article, we described the nanostructures obtained as a result of PVD technology. The applied layers were oxidized at a temperature of 860°C under Ar + O2 for 48 hours. SEM surface analysis of the obtained nanolaminates showed that the base of the oxidized laminates was covered with a fine wafer and whisker structure with an anisotropic growth orientation. Oxidation of composite layers provided the growth of chaotically oriented and mutually penetrable whiskers and small crystals. Analysis of nanolayers by the TEM technique indicated that the growth of oxide crystals leads to the dissipation of Pt particles. The comparison of oxide layers obtained with the Pt/Al system with oxide layers obtained with Pt + Al composite nanofilms indicates that those obtained through the oxidation of nanofilms shows a greater surface development. This is due to the partial covering of Pt particles through the Al layer, which causes a very strong fragmentation of the Pt nanofilms occurring during oxidation. During the oxidation in the entire volume of nanofilms, strong stresses are created that cause numerous nano-cracks, which promotes the expansion of the surface and its high activity.
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    Recent progress in biodegradable polymers and nanocomposite-based packaging materials for sustainable environment
    (Taylor and Francis, 2018-04-19) Wroblewska-Krepsztul, Jolanta; Rydzkowski, Tomasz; Borowski, Gabriel; Szczypinski, Mieczysław; Klepka, Tomasz; Thakur, Vijay Kumar
    Plastic-based materials are frequently used in packaging and can be seen universally in both the developed and developing societies. At present, most of the currently used food packaging materials are nondegradable and are creating serious environmental problems. New technologies are being explored and developed to study the complex interaction between the food packaging materials and food. For example, nanocomposite of cellulose constitutes environmentally friendly packaging, which is easily recycled by combustion and requires low power consumption in production. There are several such biodegradable materials which are available at a low price, have good mechanical properties and allow disposal in the soil. This is advantageous because biological degradation produces only carbon dioxide, water, and inorganic compounds to name a few. It has also been discovered that biodegradable plastics made of such materials can be disposed of together with organic waste. The widespread use of biopolymers in the place of standard plastics would help to reduce the weight of waste. Therefore, biodegradable materials take part in the natural cycle “from nature to nature” and play an important role for environmental sustainability. So, in this article, we briefly summarize the different characteristic of biodegradable polymers being used in food packaging applications.
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    A study on the thermodynamic changes in the mixture of polypropylene (PP) with varying contents of technological and post-user recyclates for sustainable nanocomposites
    (Elsevier, 2017-05-25) Michalska-Pożoga, Iwona; Rydzkowski, Tomasz; Mazur, Piotr; Sadowska, Olga; Kumar, Vijay
    The use of recycled materials can address some of the issues associated with the cost and environmental implications of non-renewable materials. So the prime aim of this work was to determine the thermodynamic changes in the polypropylene (PP) mixtures depending on the percentage amount of different origin recyclates for sustainable nanocomposites. In this study, different polypropylene mixtures with the addition of PP recyclates from a selective waste collection system and in-plant recycling system have been subjected to detailed analysis. It was obvious that recyclates from technological waste were of higher quality than post-user recyclates obtained from a selective waste collection system. The influence of the source of the recyclates on the different properties of the processed materials has been studied in detail. The content of the repeatedly processed material in the technological recyclates was found to explain the unexpected influence of the recyclates content on the properties of the final product. A mathematical model was also formulated to calculate the content of the material with certain amount of recirculations in the in-plant recycling system since no analyses concerning the content of the repeatedly processed material in the technological recyclates added to the original material were found in the literature.