The physiological functions of biological macromolecules strongly depend upon their conformation. Study of the thermodynamic and structural aspects of ion/polymer interactions has the potential to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of ion mediated structural organization of charged biomacromolecules (e.g., nucleic acids, proteins, proteoglycans, etc.) within cells or extracellular...

We study associating polymer gels under steady shear using Brownian dynamics simulation to explore the interplay between the network structure, dynamics, and rheology. For a wide range of flow rates, we observe the formation of shear bands with a pronounced difference in shear rate, concentration, and structure. A striking increase in the polymer pressure in the gradient direction with shear, a...

The objective of this work is to investigate the thermodynamic and scattering behavior of tetra-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) gels. Complementary measurements, including osmotic swelling pressure, elastic modulus, and small angle neutron scattering (SANS), are reported for a series of tetra-PEG gels made from different molecular weight precursor chains at different concentrations. Analysis of the...

Many kinds of stimuli-responsive polymer gels that respond to the change in their surroundings such as solvent composition, temperature, pH, and supply of electric field have been developed. They are of interest as intelligent (or smart, biomimetic) materials which have sensor, processor, and actuator functions. This article is related to stimuliresponsive gels and their application for bioor b...

Steric effects on solute diffusion in flexible polymer gels can be described by a very simple mathematical rule.

BACKGROUND All gels act as foreign bodies. Host response ranges from a few macrophages to an intense foreign-body reaction with fibrosis, depending on gel type. For polymer gels the filling effect stems from their volume. For combination gels it stems from the intended host foreign-body reaction to the microparticles. OBJECTIVE This review explains how host tissue reacts with different gel ty...

Hydrogels are gels with water as the dispersion medium and three-dimensional porous polymer networks cross-linked chemically or physically [...]

the objective of the present work was to formulate and evaluate mucoadhesive in situ nasal gels of loratadine. this drug delivery system may overcome the first-pass metabolism and subsequently improve the bioavailability of the drug. a total of 16 formulations of in situ nasal gels were prepared using different polymeric ratios of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (hpmc k-100) and xanthan gum. all ...