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Soil salinity, a severe environmental factor, significantly reduces the productivity of crop plants by increasing salt and mineral fertilizer concentrations in the soil. As a result, the development of sustainable slow-release mineral fertilizers (SRFs) is critical for addressing salt-affected soils. This study aimed to synthesize struvite (MgNH4PO4·6H2O) into hydrogel beads made from sodium alginate-poly (acrylic acid) in the absence (Sa@S) and presence (Sa@SHa) of humic acid (HA). The optimal conditions for struvite formation were at pH 9.0, resulting in a remarkable 73.21 %, 98.74 %, and 99.20 % for Mg, NH4-N and P removal, respectively. The SRFs study demonstrated that struvite had a significant release of Mg, P, and NH4-N, notably higher (P ≤ 0.05) than Sa@S and Sa@SHa. Experiments on swelling and soil water loss demonstrated that Sa@S yielded higher results in comparison to Sa@SHa. Furthermore, an experiment was conducted to study the impact of Sa@S and Sa@SHa on saline soil parameters over 20 days of incubation. The results showed both encapsulated struvite hydrogel beads reduced soil salinity, as indicated by the sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP). Additionally, a significant reduction (P ≤ 0.05) in soil electrical conductivity (EC) and sodium (Na) was observed for both hydrogel bead encapsulation treatments compared to the control soil. However, no apparent variance was observed in pH and soil organic carbon (SOC). Moreover, the levels of available phosphorus (P), ammonium-nitrogen (NH4-N), nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N), cation exchange capacity (CEC), and exchangeable cations (Ca, Mg, K) in the soil were observed to be increased (P ≤ 0.05).

Hydrogel beads, composed of polymers, possess the ability to absorb substantial quantities of water simultaneously and gradually release it in dry conditions. In this work, hydrogel beads were synthesized using sodium alginate (S-Alg) and poly (acrylic acid) (P-Acc), either in the absence or presence of phosphate (PO43−) (S-Alg/P-Acc@PO43−) and carbonate (CO32−) anionic ions (S-Alg/P-Acc@CO32−). Subsequently, these beads were crosslinked with Ca2+ ions. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images demonstrated that the presence of anionic ions has an impact on the structure of the hydrogel beads and enhances porosity expansion while concurrently reducing the concentration of carboxyl (COOH) groups. The hydrogel beads exhibited a great swelling behavior, with S-Alg/P-Acc@CO32− capable of absorbing up to 73.5 % of water in acidic conditions, but decreased under neutral and basic conditions. Soil water loss (SWL) experiments confirmed the ability of hydrogel beads to retain water in the soil. Additionally, observations of soil characteristics after a 14-day treatment revealed no significant difference in pH and C/N ratio (P-value

Poly (acrylic acid) (PAA) nanocomposite hydrogel was fabricated as a sensing patch for non-invasive dual detection of urea in sweat. The hydrogel was prepared by γ-irradiation crosslinking of PAA solution incorporated with graphene oxide (GO) and cellulose nanofiber (CNF). With high water-sorption capacity and transparency, the hydrogel was suitable to accommodate coloring reagents and enzymes for colorimetric sensing of urea in sweat. The colorimetric sensor exhibited vivid color change towards the increase of urea concentration in a linear range of 40-80 mM covering a cut-off value (60 mM) for chronic kidney disease (CKD) indication. Furthermore, the hydrogel could be directly applied as a substrate for direct quantitation of urea in sweat by laser desorption ionization mass spectroscopy (LDI-MS). While CNF improved the mechanical properties of the hydrogel, GO played a key role in enhancing laser desorption ionization of urea in LDI-MS and increased the hydrogel functionalities. LDI-MS verified that GO/CNF/PAA hydrogel could act as a direct matrix for promoting urea ionization and these results corresponded well with the colorimetric sensor. Hence, this hydrogel patch might be a potential material to be applied in non-invasive and dual-detection of CKD in medical diagnosis., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Hydrogel wound dressings with good flexibility and adhesiveness to resist deformation during wound movement are urgently needed in clinical application. In this work, the hydrogels based on poly (acrylic acid) and N-hydroxysuccinimide grafted hyaluronic acid (PAA/HA -NHS ) with good elasticity and adhesiveness were prepared by chemical cross-linking and hydrogen bonding. The elastic and adhesive properties within the PAA hydrogels could reach a balance by adjusting the concentration of potassium persulfate (KPS) and N, N'-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA). Subsequently, HA -NHS was incorporated into the PAA hydrogel system. The mechanical test revealed that the elongation at break and interfacial toughness of the PAA/HA -NHS hydrogels could reach 265.79 ± 21.93% and 52.88 ± 3.51 J/m 2 , respectively. In addition, the hydrogels possess a connected porous network and well water absorption ability (with porosity of 51.90 ± 0.11% and swelling ratio in wet state of 122.17 ± 2.78%). In vitro experiment demonstrates that the PAA/HA -NHS hydrogels exhibit nontoxic and cell in-adhesive properties. The PAA/HA -NHS hydrogels could cover the wound spots directly, stretch with the skin movement and gently remove from the wound tissue due to the suitable adhesiveness and poor cell adhesion. In conclusion, the PAA/HA -NHS hydrogels show great application value in the field of wound dressing., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: In this study, we incorporated hybrid nanoparticles (poly (acrylic acid)-grafted nanoclay/nanosilica, respectively, with platelet and spherical morphologies, abbreviated as PAA-g-NC-Sil) in different concentrations (0, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2 and 5 wt%) to an experimental dentin bonding system and investigated the physical properties of the filled adhesive and its shear bond strength (μ-SBS) to dentin. We subsequently compared the properties of the adhesives containing PAA-g-NC-Sil with previously studied adhesives containing poly (methacrylic acid)-g-nanoclay (PMA-g-NC) (Solhi et al., 2012a), poly (acrylic acid)-g-nanoclay (PAA-g-NC) (Solhi et al., 2012b), and the hybrid poly (methacrylic acid)-grafted-nanoclay-nanosilica (PMA-g-NC-Sil) (Solhi et al., 2020)., Materials and Methods: In a set of previous publications and the present paper, we grafted poly (acrylic acid) (PAA) or poly (methacrylic acid) (PMA) onto the surface of pristine Na-MMT nanoclay (Cloisite® Na + ) through free radical polymerization of monomer in an aqueous media in the presence or absence of nanosilica particles. We characterized the resulting modified nanoparticles (PMA-g-NC, PAA-g-NC, PMA-g-NC-Sil and PAA-g-NC-Sil) using GPC, FTIR, TGA, and XRD. We then incorporated the modified particles as functionalized fillers to experimental dentin adhesives in different concentrations and studied the stability of modified fillers dispersion by separation analysis. We also studied the properties of the photo-cured adhesive matrices using FTIR, TEM, SEM, EDXA, and XRD. We examined the shear bond strength of the adhesives (containing different contents of each modified filler, separately) to human premolar teeth. The results were analysed and compared statistically., Results: The results confirmed that the polymers have been grafted onto the surface of nanoclay. An exfoliated structure for the nanoclay platelets in the photo-cured adhesive containing PAA-g-NC-Sil was observed. Addition of 0.5 wt% of PAA-g-NC-Sil to the experimental adhesive increased the shear bond strength and the dispersion stability in comparison to unfilled adhesive. The same trend was also observed for adhesives containing PMA-g-NC, PAA-g-NC, and PMA-g-NC-Sil. The adhesive containing PAA-g-NC-Sil showed the best dispersion stability and subsequently the highest shear bond strength in the optimal concentration among adhesives containing the four available fillers (PMA-g-NC, PAA-g-NC, PMA-g-NC-Sil and PAA-g-NC-Sil)., Significance: Addition of poly (acrylic acid) modified nanoparticles to the experimental dentin adhesives resulted in higher shear bond strength due to the potential interactions between the carboxylic acid functional groups on the surface of the modified particles and the dentin structure. Between the poly (acrylic acid) and poly (methacrylic acid), the former acid with higher PK a performed better. Addition of the spherical nanosilica particles to the adhesives containing platelet nanoclay helped to better exfoliate the platelets resulting in improved μ-SBS and dispersion stability., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The aim of this work is to prepare nanofibrous scaffolds based on poly (l-lactide-d, l-lactide)/poly (acrylic acid) [PLDLLA/PAAc] blends in the presence of Dexamethasone [Dexa]-loaded poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) [HEMA] as molecular imprinted polymer [MIP] nanoparticles [NPs] for enhancing osteogenesis. By adding 10 wt% of PAAc to the PLDLLA and employing response surface methodology, the average diameter of the electrospun nanofibers is approximately 237 nm. To increase the osteogenesis performance of the optimized nanofibrous scaffolds, the MIP nanoparticles are synthesized using HEMA monomer and Dexa template with a molar ratio of 10 to 1. Accordingly, these crosslinked drug nanocarriers exhibit an average diameter of around 122 nm and imprinting factor of approximately 1.8, enabling to adsorb Dexa molecules around 57%. Afterward, the Dexa-loaded MIP NPs have capability of a controlled drug release with ultimate value of 60% during 72 h. The simultaneous use of PLDLLA/PAAc-10 nanofibrous scaffold and Dexa-loaded MIP NPs within the cultivation media of fibroblast and mesenchymal stem cells is carried out by thiazolyl blue assay and acridine/ethidium bromide staining as well as alkaline phosphate/calcium content test, and alizarin red staining. The results reveal the remarkable efficiency of the blend nanofibers besides the MIP containing Dexa, thereby using for bone tissue engineering applications, potentially., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this pape., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In the present study, semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (semi-IPNs) were synthesized based on crosslinked acrylic acid (AA)/xanthan gum (XG) biopolymer in the presence of N, N'-hexane-1, 6-dilbisprop-2-enamide (MS) or 1,4-butandioldimethacrylate (BDOD) as the cross-linking agent. MS is a novel acrylic-urethane diene monomer prepared through the condensation reaction between AA and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1 H NMR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric (TGA) analyses were used to study the morphology, structure and thermal stability of MS and semi-IPNs. The effect of crosslinking agent type on different behaviors such as morphology, stability, swelling, and water-retention capabilities of the synthesized hydrogels were investigated. XG-PAA semi-IPNs exhibited a very high adsorption potential and stability. Hydrogel biocompatibility was confirmed by the outcomes of MTT assay and cell staining. We recommend XG-PAA semi-IPNs as an environmentally benign and readily non-toxic material with an excellent adsorption capacity for application in drug delivery systems, wound healing and dye removal., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Poly (l-lactide-co-D, l-lactide) (PLDLLA) is a biodegradable polymer predominantly used in biomedical applications. Despite unprecedented characteristics of PLDLLA, its wettability, mechanical properties, degradation, and cell attachment are main issues to improve. In this work, different blend films based on PLDLLA/poly (acrylic acid) (PAAc) are prepared to evaluate their miscibility, hydrophilicity, hydrolytic degradation and mechanical properties. For this purpose, a series of experiments such as DSC alongside SEM, water contact angle (WCA)/water up-take, weight measurements in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) and NaOH as well as tensile test are carried out. The DSC and SEM results show a miscibility for the blends, and hence by increasing PAAc, the WCA values and degradation rates are decreased and increased, respectively. Moreover, the degradation mechanisms of the blend samples follow surface/bulk erosion and bulk process in the alkaline and PBS environments, respectively. Subsequently, PLDLLA and its blends are electrospun to prepare nanofibrous samples, thereby assessing their cytotoxicity and cell viability by the use of thiazolyl blue assay and acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining, respectively. The in vitro SNL 76/7 fibroblast cells cultivation onto the surface of the blend with 10% wt. of PAAc revealed that this sample is a promising candidate for tissue engineering applications., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), four-arm, amine-terminated particles with nanometer size and spherical shape were obtained by the polymers cross-linking, via activation with 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethyl aminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride, in a w/o emulsion. The morphology and surface charge of the final particles are strongly dependent on the molar ratio of PAA-PEG and the PAA concentration. The physicochemical characteristics correlated with the drug-loading capacity, in vitro and ex vivo release kinetics of pilocarpine hydrochloride and biocompatibility results indicate that these nanoparticles exhibit the prerequisite behavior for use as carriers of ophthalmic drugs., (© 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association.)