Silicones for Encapsulation of Medical Device Implants

Encapsulation of medical device implants with a suitable material is an essential and critical process step in the manufacturing of a wide range of medical device products and for their applications. The barrier material is often subjected to stringent functional (e.g. prevent current leakage from the device into the body), and the regulatory requirements for the device’s safe and intended use. Additionally, the material used for this purpose should be biocompatible and safe to the patients’ health and wellbeing. Silicon containing polymers, particularly silicones, with their unique material properties, have found widespread utility in healthcare products and applications. Some of the properties attributed to silicones include biocompatibility, hydrophobicity, low surface tension, good chemical stability and good thermal stability. Thus, silicones are well suited for encapsulation of various types of medical devices and implants. As an example, the encapsulation of an electrical/electronic implant device connected through gold wires to a polymer scaffold for in vivo bone tissue regeneration under controlled electrical stimulation in a porcine model is presented and discussed in this article.     

Pervaporation of Organic Liquids from Binary Aqueous Mixtures using Poly(trifluoropropylmethylsiloxane) and Poly(dimethylsiloxane) Dense Membranes

In this work we have compared and contrasted the pervaporation behaviour (separation factor and flux) of fluorosilicone dense membranes based on poly(trifluoropropylmethylsiloxane) (PTFPMS) with poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) dense membranes. In particular, pervaporation experiments were carried out at 298 K using lab-made PTFPMS, lab-made PDMS and commercial PDMS membranes in order to remove three different organic liquids pyridine (PY), isopropanol (IPA) and methylethylketone (MEK) from dilute (<10 wt.%) binary aqueous mixtures. All of the silicone membranes studied were found to be successful for the desired separations. The permeation flux of pyridine–water liquid mixtures for the PTFPMS membranes was found to increase with the pyridine concentration in the feed mixtures. The separation factor for PDMS membranes for the removal of pyridine, IPA and MEK from aqueous binary mixtures (1 wt.%) was found to be higher than that of PTFPMS membranes while the normalized flux was higher for PTFPMS membranes under identical test conditions. The effect of crosslink density of the PTFPMS membranes on the separation of pyridine–water mixtures was also studied. For a 1 wt.% feed solution the total flux increased with the molar mass between crosslinks, whereas the separation factor for pyridine–water was highest for a molar mass between crosslinks of 15,320 g mol⁻¹.     

Lipase Catalyzed Synthesis of Poly(ε-Caprolactone)−Poly(Dimethylsiloxane)−Poly(ε-Caprolactone) Triblock Copolymers

Immobilized lipase B from Candida antarctica was used to synthesize copolymers of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) with α,ω-(dihydroxy alkyl) terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS). The reactions were carried out in toluene with a 1:2 w/v ratio of the monomers to solvent at 70 oC. The PCL−PDMS−PCL triblock copolymer composition was varied by changing the feed ratio of the reactants [CL]/[PDMS] (80:20; 60:40; 40:60; 20:80 w/w, respectively). The enzymatically synthesized copolymers were characterized by GPC, FTIR, TGA, DSC and XRD. The successful synthesis of the copolymers was confirmed by the appearance of a single peak in all of the respective GPC chromatograms. An increased feed ratio of [CL]/[PDMS] produced an increase in the number-average molecular weight (M_n) of the copolymers from 4,400 g mol⁻¹ (20:80 w/w of [CL]/[PDMS]) to 13,950 g mol⁻¹ (80:20 w/w of [CL]/[PDMS]). The copolymers were shown by DSC and XRD to be semi-crystalline and the degree of crystallinity increased with an increase in the [CL]/[PDMS] feed ratio. The crystal structure in the copolymers was analogous to that of the PCL homopolymer. In enzymatic polymerization the recovery and reuse of the enzyme is highly desirable. When the lipase was recovered and reused for the copolymerization, higher molecular weight copolymers were obtained upon a second use. This appears to be due to an increased activity of the immobilized lipase following an opening up of the acrylic resin matrix in the organic medium. This improvement was not maintained for subsequent recycling of the lipase principally due to the disintegration of the acrylic resin matrix.     

Immobilization and Activity of Pepsin in Silicone Elastomers

Pepsin [EC, 3.4.23.1] from Porcine stomach mucosa was immobilized in silicone elastomers utilizing condensation-cure room temperature vulcanization (RTV) of silanol-terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS). Two network precursor chain molar masses were used in this investigation: in pepsin–silicone (A), M _n ∼26,000 g mol⁻¹ and in pepsin–silicone (B) M _n ∼750 g mol⁻¹. Tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) was used as the cross-linking agent and dibutyltin dilaurate was used as the catalyst. The activity and stability of free pepsin and pepsin immobilized in PDMS were studied with respect to pH, temperature, cross-link density, solvents and storage time using a hemoglobin assay. A notable finding is that free pepsin has zero activity in neutral buffer solution (pH 7) after incubation for 5 h, while pepsin immobilized in the silicone elastomers was found to retain more than 70% of its maximum normalized activity. There was no marked improvement in the thermal stability of the PDMS immobilized pepsin when compared to free pepsin and all the three systems showed no activity at and above 70 °C. From the Lineweaver–Burk kinetic analyses, the apparent K _m (g L⁻¹ hemoglobin) for free pepsin was 4.5, for pepsin–silicone (A) was 5.1, and for pepsin–silicone (B) was 3.9, the V _max (U/mg of pepsin) for free pepsin was 14,000, for pepsin–silicone (A) was 11,710, and for pepsin–silicone (B) was 8,510, respectively after incubation in buffer solution at pH 2 and 37 °C. The activity of the free and the PDMS immobilized pepsin in six different organic solvents was also studied. The pepsin retained high activity in non-polar solvents such as n-hexane, isooctane and toluene, but the enzyme performed poorly in methanol, ethanol and tetrahydrofuran. The degree of swelling of the pepsin immobilized silicone elastomers in these solvents had no impact on the activity of the pepsin. When stored at room temperature for time periods up to 6 months, pepsin immobilized in silicone elastomers was observed to retain its full activity. The results reported herein demonstrate that cross-linked PDMS is a promising support material for the immobilization of hydrolytic enzymes such as pepsin.     

Corrosion behavior of nanolayered TiN/NbN multilayer coatings prepared by reactive direct current magnetron sputtering process

TiN, NbN and TiN/NbN multilayer coatings were deposited on tool steel substrates using a reactive DC magnetron sputtering process. The coatings were characterized using X-ray diffraction, nanoindentation, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. The corrosion behavior of TiN/NbN multilayer coatings was studied in 0.5 M HCl and 0.5 M NaCl solutions using potentiodynamic polarization and compared with single layered TiN and NbN coatings. Approximately 1.5 μm thick coatings of TiN, NbN and TiN/NbN multilayers showed good corrosion protection of the tool steel substrate and multilayer coatings performed better than single layered coatings. The corrosion behavior of the multilayers improved with total number of interfaces in the coatings. In order to conclusively demonstrate the positive effect of layering, corrosion behavior of 40-layer TiN/NbN multilayers was studied at lower coating thicknesses (32–200 nm) and compared with single layer TiN coatings of similar thicknesses. The polarization data and SEM studies of these coatings indicated that the corrosion behavior improved with coating thickness and multilayers showed better corrosion resistance as compared to the single layer coatings. Other studies such as intrinsic corrosion, effects of Ti interlayer and post-deposition annealing on the corrosion behavior of the multilayer coatings are also presented in this paper. The results of this study demonstrate that nanolayered multilayers can effectively improve the corrosion behavior of transition metal nitride hard coatings.     

Lipase Catalyzed Synthesis and Thermal Properties of Poly(dimethylsiloxane)–Poly(ethylene glycol) Amphiphilic Block Copolymers

Resin immobilized lipase B from Candida antarctica (CALB) was used to catalyze the condensation polymerization of two difuctional siloxane and poly(ethylene glycol) systems. In the first system, 1,3-bis(3-carboxypropyl)tetramethyldisiloxane was reacted with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG having a number-average molecular weight, M_n = 400, 1000 and 3400 g mol⁻¹, respectively). In the second system, α,ω-(dihydroxy alkyl) terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane) (HAT-PDMS, M_n = 2500 g mol⁻¹) was reacted with α,ω-(diacid) terminated poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG, M_n = 600 g mol⁻¹). All the reactions were carried out in the bulk (without use of solvent) at 80 °C and under reduced pressure (500 mmHg vacuum gauge). The progress of the polyesterification reactions was monitored by analyzing the samples collected at various time intervals using FTIR and GPC. The thermal properties of the copolymers were characterized by DSC and TGA. In particular, the effect of the chain length of the PEG block on the molar mass build up and on the thermal stability of the copolymers was also studied. The thermal stability of the enzymatically synthesized copolymers was found to increase with increased dimethylsiloxane content in the copolymers.     

Enzymatic synthesis of poly(ε-caprolactone): thermal properties, recovery, and reuse of lipase B from Candida antarctica immobilized on macroporous acrylic resin particles

Candida is a genus of yeast, and lipase B isolated from Candida antarctica (CALB) has been utilized as a biocatalyst for the synthesis of a variety of organic compounds including polyesters and polylactones. Among the various immobilization media reported in the literature, the porous acrylic resin utilized in Novozym-435 has been widely studied. Here, we report the enzyme recovery and reuse for the synthesis of poly(ε-caprolactone) in toluene at 70 °C for 4 h per cycle for up to 10 reaction cycles, which consistently resulted in polymers with a weight-average molecular weight, M _w , of ~50,000 g mol^?1 and a polydispersity index of ~1.4. In addition, the thermal properties of the resin particles used in Novozym-435, with and without the enzyme, were evaluated by TGA and DSC analysis. The effect of mechanical agitation on the enzyme stability, recovery, and reuse was also discussed. These results may have significance to enzymatic polymer synthesis as well as to the enzyme immobilization on acrylic resins and other matrices.     

Corrosion Behaviour of TiN/a-C Superhard Nanocomposite Coatings Prepared by a Reactive DC Magnetron Sputtering Process

Nanocomposite coatings of TiN/a-C were prepared on tool steel substrates using a multitarget reactive DC magnetron sputtering process at various TiN layer thicknesses (0.6-2.8 nm). The a-C layer thickness was approximately 0.45 nm. Structural characterisation of the coatings was done by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Incorporation of an a-C phase in TiN matrix reduced crystallite size of the coatings, as revealed by XRD and atomic force microscopy. XRD data showed that the nanocomposite coatings exhibited {111} texture and the average crystallite size was ca. 7.5-9.0 nm. Nanoindentation data showed that 1.5 μm thick nanocomposite coatings exhibited a maximum hardness of 5100 kg mm^?2. The potentiody-namic polarisation of 1.5 μm thick coatings in 0.5 M HCl solution indicated that the nanocomposite coalings exhibited superior corrosion protection of the tool steel substrate as compared to the single layer TiN coatings of similar thicknesses. Enhancement in the corrosion behaviour of the nanocomposite coatings has been attributed to small crystallite size and dense microstructure. Potentiodynamic polarisation studies conducted on ca. 100 nm thick nanocomposite coatings revealed that for a given a-C layer thickness the corrosion current decreased with a decrease in TiN layer thickness. This was supported by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies on the corroded samples. The SEM micrographs showed that density and diameter of the corrosion pits were smaller for nanocomposite coatings as compared to single layer TiN coatings of similar thicknesses.     

Effect of variable heat generation/absorption on magnetohydrodynamic Sakiadis flow of Casson/Carreau hybrid nanoliquid due to a persistently moving needle

A numerical investigation is performed in the present research to confer the boundary layer characteristics of MHD flow of hybrid nanoliquids across a stagnation region of the poignant needle with thermal radiation and irregular heat source/sink effects. The hybrid nanoliquid utilized in this study is composed of uniquely manufactured aluminum alloys AA7075/AA7072 suspended in methanol liquid. Simultaneous results are depicted for Casson hybrid nanoliquid and Carreau hybrid nanoliquid for the Sakiadis fluid flow circumstance. The transmuted ordinary differential equations are resolved by means of the Runge–Kutta method with a shooting scheme. Numerical outcomes of momentum, thermal, and concentration distributions are deployed by means of graphical trends and wall friction, thermal, and mass transport rates are interpreted using tabular values. It reveals from the results that the occurrence of a special variety of alloy hybrid nanoparticles significantly surpasses the thermal transport performance of the host liquid. Also, the heat transport operation of the Casson fluid model is notably superior to the Carreau fluid model. Also, thermal distributions of the Carreau fluid model are substantially amplified by a rise in volume fraction of hybrid particles than the Casson fluid model.