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This chapter gives a brief description of the definition, development history and classification of cosmetics, and introduces the advantages and beautiful prospects of adaptive and functional polymers in the cosmetics field. We also further discuss the properties and cosmetic applications of five types of typical adaptive and functional polymers in this chapter, which are: hydrogels, cyclodextrins, polysaccharides, shape memory polymers and nanopolymer particles.

Mono or diamino phthalocyanines with A3B or crosswise ABAB substitution patterns have been synthesized and used as building blocks for the preparation of dimeric and polymeric phthalocyanines. For this, 4,5-di(dodecylsulfanyl) phthalonitrile was converted into 1,3-diimino-6,7-di-(n-dodecylsulfanyl)-isoiminoindoline and then reacted with 6-nitro-1,3,3-trichloroisoindoline. The nitro functions on the resulting inseparable mixture of A3B and ABAB phthalocyanines were reduced into amines by Na₂S and the phthalocyanines could be chromatographically separated. Dimeric phthalocyanine was synthesized by the reaction of the mono-amino AB3 with sebacoyldichloride, and a poorly soluble linear polymeric material was obtained by reaction of the ABAB di-amino phthalocyanine with sebacoyl dichloride.

Among the various ion-conducting materials, polymer salt complexes are of current interest due to their possible application as solid electrolyte as well as their physical nature in advanced high-energy electrochemical devices such as batteries, fuel cells, electrochromic display devices, photo electro-chemical solar cells^52-55 etc. The main advantages of polymeric electrolytes are their mechanical properties, ease of fabrication of thin films of desired sizes and their ability to form proper electrode-electrolyte contact. Polymer electrolyte usually consists of a polymer and a salt and is considered to be solid solutions in which the polymer functions as solvent. In the present paper the synthesis, characterization and the conductivity study of the polymer poly (vinyl 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy benzal) (PV-HMB) and its sodio salt (PV-HMB-Na) have been reported. The polymer was prepared by carrying out homogenous acetalization between the prepolymer poly vinylalcohol (PVA) and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy benzaldehyde (vanilline). PVA was dissolved in dimethyl formamide (DMF) and lithium chloride (LiCl) system i.e., in non-aqueous medium. The sodio salt was prepared by alkalization. The polymer and its salt were characterized by IR, 1H NMR and DSC. Frequency and temperature dependence of ac conductivity has been studied to learn about the electrical conduction behaviour in this material. The electrical conductivity of the new polymeric salt was found to be in the range 10^-4 to 10^-6 Scm^-1. There is about 10³ to 10⁴ fold increase in the conductivity of the new polymer salt. Apparent activation energy of the polymer and its salt were found to be 0.139 and 0.08998 ev respectively.

The guest-host polymer DR13/PMMA thin films at three different concentrations (10wt%, 15wt% and 20wt%) were studied in the present work. The films were prepared by the spin-coating method and some optical characteristics of the films such as refraction index, thickness, absorption spectrum, and transmission losses were investigated.

Nowadays tools based on Scanning Probe Methods (SPM) have become indispensable in a wide range of applications such as cell imaging and spectroscopy, profilometry, or surface patterning on a nanometric scale. Common to all SPM techniques is a typically slow working speed which is one of their main drawbacks. The SPM speed barrier can be improved by operating a number of probes in parallel mode. A key element when developing probe array devices is a convenient read-out system for measurements of the probe deflection. Such a read-out should be sufficiently sensitive, resistant to the working environment, and compatible with the operation of large number of probes working in parallel. In terms of fabrication, the geometrical uniformity i.e. the realisation of large numbers of identical probes, is a major concern but also the material choice compatible with high sensitivity, the detection scheme and the working environment is a challenging issue. Examples of promising applications using parallel SPM are dip-pen-nanolithography, data storage, and parallel imaging.

We analyze the impact of a porous medium (structural disorder) on the scaling of the partition function of a star polymer immersed in a good solvent. We show that corresponding scaling exponents change if the disorder is long-range-correlated and calculate the exponents in the new universality class. A notable finding is that star and chain polymers react in qualitatively different manner on the presence of disorder: the corresponding scaling exponents increase for chains and decrease for stars. We discuss the physical consequences of this difference.

It is the main mechanism of enhancing oil recovery that polymer can increase the sweep efficiency. The methods for calculating polymer flooding sweep efficiency are laboratory experiment method, empirical formula method and seepage mechanical method. With the development of numerical simulation technology, in the exploitation of oil and gas field, numerical simulation technology has become a core technology. But now there is still not a polymer flooding sweep efficiency calculation method using streamline. This paper established compositional numerical simulation seepage equation group, and solved by streamline method. A new method is proposed for calculating polymer flooding sweep efficiency using streamline data field. After comparison with the electric simulation results and analytical formula results, it is proved that the method is accurate and reliable. Using the actual data of oilfield, polymer flooding sweep efficiency is analyzed, the main factors affecting polymer flooding sweep efficiency is obtained, and puts forward some suggestions on the injection of polymer.

By synthesizing new polymeric materials and combining them with growth factors or cells, new tissues and organs can potentially be created for use in drug testing-thereby potentially reducing animal and human testing- and to treat disease. Examples discussed include blood vessels, heart muscle, spinal cord repair, artificial skin, cartilage, and pancreas.

A composite, composed of biphasic calcium phosphate, BCP (60% hydroxyapatite, HA + 40% β-tricalcium phosphate, β-TCP) granules and a hydrophilic polymer (hydroxy-propyl-methyl cellulose, HPMC) was developed as an injectable bone substitute (IBS). The composite was prepared by incubating for 6 and 12 months a mixture of 60% BCP powder (w/w) and 40% HPMC. The composite was then steam sterilized and non-sterilized composite served as control. The interaction between ceramic crystals and polymer and the effect of sterilization were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HrTEM). Results: SEM demonstrated the degradation of ceramic in the composite after incubation. HrTEM demonstrated the presence of a dissolution zone, about 13 nm, associted with the HA crystal surfaces. Precipitated globular microcrystals (2-3 nm in diameter) represented the first zone of interaction between HA crystals and the polymer. Under this zone, the inter-reticular distances of HA lattice planes appeared enlarged by 1.2% [from 0.817 to 0.827 nm for (100) lattice planes]. The enlargement of lattice planes could be due to HPO₄ incorporation in the newly formed apatite crystal lattice. In β-TCP crystals, dissolution took place on several nanometers. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that interaction between hydrophilic polymer and calcium phosphate ceramic occurs only on very thin layer (several nanometers).

Numerous additives of vegetal source are currently used for the production of “green” eco-polymers. Officinal herbs represent a precious font of polyphenols and antioxidant biomolecules with effective activity against pathogen and unwanted microorganisms. This study was focused on the use of rosemary extract and Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to create a polymeric mixture with antimicrobial activity against different pathogen bacteria, for packaging applications. Thus, a series of PVA-rosemary extract polymers, having different concentration of the vegetal extract, was prepared. Samples were tested against some pathogen Gram positive and Gram negative microorganisms by the halo test on agar plates. Polymeric mixture revealed a dramatic antimicrobial activity against all microorganisms tested, also when the lowest amount of the vegetal extract was used. Free extracts or PVA only were absolutely ineffective as antimicrobial agents.

Applying Fick's Law theory, a new formula for calculating diffusion and dispersion coefficient of surfactant diffusing to crude oil phase was deduced and validated through experiments. Heavy alkyl benzene sulfonate being as studying object, experiment that putting the same volume crude oil and surfactant solution into a column vessel with plug and then measuring the surfactant concentration at different time till the concentration is constant were carried out. And the effects of both surfactant concentration and polymer on diffusion and dispersion coefficient of surfactant were also studied; further, distribution coefficient of the surfactant to crude oil and water phase was predicted.

This paper investigated novel wireless RF pressure sensor fabricated with SU-8 polymer. To achieve highly simplified fabrication processes and designs for high-reliable operation, a passive wireless sensors were researched. SU-8 polymer-based micro pressure sensor was fabricated by micro-electro-mechenical system (MEMS) based batch process. The sensor consists of an inductor (L) interconnected with pressure-variable capacitor (C) to form a LC resonant circuit. Fabricated devices measure 4 × 3 mm² in size and houses 9 turns of Cu electro-plated 100 nH coil. In this system, RF signal was transmitted from external antenna to the fabricated LC resonator. By detecting this abrupt resonant frequency shift of the fabricated device, the pressure change of the device can be measured by wireless method.

Sensing is a basic ability of smart structures. Self-sensing involves the structural material sensing itself. No device incorporation is needed, thus resulting in cost reduction, durability enhancement, sensing volume increase and absence of mechanical property diminution. Carbon fiber renders electrical conductivity to a composite material. The effect of strain/damage on the electrical conductivity enables self-sensing. This review addresses self-sensing in structural composite materials that contain carbon fiber reinforcement. The composites include polymer–matrix composites with continuous carbon fiber rein-forcement (relevant to aircraft and other lightweight structures) and cement–matrix composites with short carbon fiber reinforcement (relevant to the civil infrastructure). The sensing mechanisms differ for these two types of composite materials, due to the difference in structures, which affects the electrical and electromechanical behaviors. For the polymer–matrix composites with continuous carbon fiber reinforcement, the longitudinal resistivity in the fiber direction decreases upon uniaxial tension, due to the fiber residual compressive stress reduction, while the through-thickness resistivity increases, due to the fiber waviness reduction; upon flexure, the tension surface resistance increases, because of the reduction in the current penetration from the surface, while the compression surface resistance decreases. These strain effects are reversible. The through-thickness resistance, oblique resistance and interlaminar interfacial resistivity increase irreversibly upon fiber fracture, delamination or subtle irreversible change in the microstructure. For the cement–matrix composites with short carbon fiber rein-forcement, the resistivity increases upon tension, due to the fiber–matrix interface weakening, and decreases upon compression; upon flexure, the tension surface resistance increases, while the compression surface resistance decreases. Strain and damage cause reversible and irreversible resistance changes, respectively. The incorporation of carbon nano-fiber or nanotube to these composites adds to the costs, while the sensing performance is improved marginally, if any. The self-sensing involves resistance or capacitance measurement. Strain and damage cause reversible and irreversible capacitance changes, respectively. The fringing electric field that bows out of the coplanar electrodes serves as a probe, with the capacitance decreased when the fringing field encounters an imperfection. For the cement-based materials, a conductive admixture is not required for capacitance-based self-sensing.

Immunotherapy has offered an alternative therapy method for cancer patients with metastatic tumors or who are not suitable for surgical resection. Different from traditional surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, immunotherapy mainly restores the activity of the body’s own immune cells silenced in the tumor microenvironment to achieve anticancer therapy. Gene therapy which corrects abnormal expression of immune cells in tumor microenvironment by delivering exogenous genes to specific immune cells, is the most widely studied immunotherapy. Although most available gene delivery vectors are still viral vectors, the further application of viral vectors is still limited by the immunogenicity and mutagenesis. Based on this, cationic polymeric gene vectors with high flexibility, high feasibility, low cost and high safety have been widely used in gene delivery. The structural variability of polymers allows specific chemical modifications to be incorporated into polymer scaffolds to improve their physicochemical properties for more stable loading of genes or more targeted delivery to specific cells. In this review, we have summarized the structural characteristics and application potential in cancer immunotherapy of these polymeric gene vectors based on poly(L-lysine), poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid), polyethyleneimine, poly(amidoamine) and hydrogel system.