The present disclosure can provide a gel precursor, a nucleic acid amplification reagent gel, a storage chip and a using method thereof. The gel precursor includes: a sodium alginate main solution mixed with at least one of the following components: starch, dextrin, chitosan, agarose and gelatin, where the sodium alginate main solution has a mass concentration range from 0.01% w/v to 5% w/v.

A composition comprising a first material and a second material, wherein said first material is cross-linkable by a first cross-linking reaction and said second material is cross-linkable by a second cross-linking reaction, wherein said first cross-linking reaction and said second cross-linking reaction are inducible by a common activator.

There are provided a method of manufacturing a three-dimensional structure, and three-dimension formation composition, by each which a three-dimensional structure can be manufactured with high dimensional accuracy, and provided a three-dimensional structure manufactured with high dimensional accuracy. There is provided a method of manufacturing a three-dimensional structure, in which the three-dimensional structure is manufactured by laminating a layer, the method including: forming the layer using a three-dimension formation composition containing particles, a binding resin, and a water-based solvent; removing the water-based solvent from the layer by heating the layer; and applying a binding solution containing a binder to the layer, in which the binding resin has an ammonium salt of a carboxyl group as a functional group.

Processes for drying gel particles, in particular for producing aerogels, involve providing a suspension containing gel particles and a solvent, introducing the suspension into a column where carbon dioxide flows in countercurrent, and removing dried aerogel particles from the column. The suspension is introduced in the top region of the column and dried aerogel particles are removed in the lower region. Pressure and temperature in the column are set such that the mixture of carbon dioxide and solvent is virtually supercritical or is supercritical. The aerogel particles can be discharged via discharge vessels or continuous decompression. Aerogel particles can be obtained by such a process and the aerogel particles can be used for medical and pharmaceutical applications, as additive or carrier material for additives for foods, as catalyst support, for cosmetic, hygiene, washing and cleaning applications, for production of sensors, for thermal insulation, or as a core material for VIPs.

A natural composition for 3D printing comprising alginate from brown seaweed and cellulose nanofibers, wherein the cellulose nanofibers originate from cellulose from the same brown seaweed sample(s) as the alginate.

The present invention relates to a hydrogel comprising an oxidized alginate containing aldehyde groups, wherein the oxidized alginate is crosslinked with an imine type crosslinker. The hydrogel is particularly suitable as a bioink, i.e. for 3D printing of cell structures. The gels provide good printability and exhibit excellent viscoelasticity, shear thinning and self-healing characteristics.

A method for manufacturing a membrane, which includes at least the following steps of: preparing a mixture that contains at least an aqueous solution of a cationic polymer whose pH is between 5 and 8, the cationic polymer having positively-charged groups in this aqueous solution, and an aqueous solution of an anionic polymer, the anionic polymer having negatively-charged groups in this aqueous solution; stirring the mixture; leaving the mixture to mature to cause the ionic interaction between positively-charged groups of the cationic polymer and negatively-charged groups of the anionic polymer, until obtaining within the mixture a membrane in the form of a hydrogel; adding at least one crosslinking agent so as to crosslink the membrane; drying the crosslinked membrane obtained upon completion of the previous step. This membrane is used for the treatment of liquid or gaseous effluents, as well as an antimicrobial support or for heterogeneous catalysis.

A method for producing an expanded rigid foam with sealed pores includes at least the following steps: a) a mixture is prepared containing at least: an anionic polymer suited for ionotropic gelation; a foaming agent; a source of multivalent cations, said multivalent cations not being released in the mixture a); and a solvent; b) the mixture is stirred so as to obtain a foam; c) a compound capable of releasing protons in a sufficient amount to release said multivalent cations is added to the foam such that the anionic polymer gels ionotropically; d) the foam is dried. A foam is obtained in this manner and an object (for example a package, a heat-insulating or flame-retardant material) is made from this foam.

Films compositions for packaging and delivering a foodstuff, pharmaceutical, industrial, manufacturing and agricultural materials and uses are disclosed. The film can be formed from at least one biodegradable film forming agent, and at least one biodegradable plasticizer. The resulting film can be formed and shaped to a variety of film package configurations and can have multi compartments. The resulting films and film packages can be edible and substantially and/or completely soluble in a cold, cool, warm and/or hot hydro-liquid including water. The film forming agent(s) is compostable and the film has an essential absence of petrochemicals and non-biodegradable plastics/bioplastics.

Disclosed are methods for scalable, cost-effective, and rapid production manufacturing and packaging a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium that can be used for ultrasound diagnostic and treatment systems and techniques. In some aspects, a method includes forming a staged solution by adding together a stock solution comprising a monomer and a block copolymer in deoxygenated water and a primed solution comprising a covalent crosslinking agent and a catalyst; forming a gel-sol by mixing the staged solution with a first network activator solution comprising a monomer activator and a second network activator solution comprising a block copolymer activator; dispensing the gel-sol into a mold; and curing the gel-sol in the mold to produce a semi-rigid acoustic coupling material, where the method is carried under an inert atmosphere.