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Platinum-containing molecules such as cisplatin figure among oncology's most widely used antineoplastic agents. Cisplatin excreted in the urine usually ends up in municipal wastewater, with a strong toxicological and carcinogenic impact on the environment. Thus, cisplatin should be inactivated before reaching wastewater to attenuate its environmental impact. However, conventional recommended procedures use large quantities of toxic acids, which are not sustainable processes. In this study, a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) atmospheric pressure plasma reactor is used to degrade cisplatin in wastewater, allowing platinum's recuperation. The article describes the plasma discharge (power, electron temperature, and density) and confirms the most stable operation parameters under Ar and Ar+H2 discharges. Cisplatin is diluted in water or synthetic urine, and plasma treatment is conducted for 30 min. The process degrades cisplatin molecules by conversion into platinum-rich nanoparticles (NPs). These nanoparticles are efficiently recuperated by centrifugation and are characterized by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The mass-balance assessment confirms that more than 90% of cisplatin is degraded and recuperated as Pt-rich NPs.

Alginate-based hydrogels are widely used for the development of biomedical scaffolds in regenerative medicine. The use of sugar glass as a sacrificial template for fluidic channels fabrication within alginate scaffolds remains a challenge because of the premature dissolution of sugar by the water contained in the alginate as well as the relatively slow internal gelation rate of the alginate. Here, a new and simple method, based on a sugar glass fugitive ink loaded with calcium chloride to build sacrificial molds, is presented. We used a dual calcium cross-linking process by adding this highly soluble calcium source in the printed sugar, thus allowing the rapid gelation of a thin membrane of alginate around the sugar construct, followed by the addition of calcium carbonate and gluconic acid δ-lactone to complete the process. This innovative technique results in the rapid formation of ''on-demand'' alginate hydrogel with complex fluidic channels that could be used in biomedical applications such as highly vascularized scaffolds promoting pathways for nutrients and oxygen to the cells.