The present invention relates to a process for preparing a polymer/biological entities alloy, comprising a step of mixing a polymer and biological entities that degrade it, during a heat treatment, said heat treatment being performed at a temperature T above room temperature and said biological entities being resistant to said temperature T, characterized in that said biological entities are chosen from enzymes that degrade said polymer and microorganisms that degrade said polymer.

An ionic nanocomposite comprising a nanomaterial comprising charged groups disposed on at least a portion of a surface of the nanomaterial and a polymer material comprising charged pendant group and/or end functionalized charged groups, where the charged groups of the nanomaterial and the charged pendant groups of the polymer material have opposite charges and the nanomaterial and polymer material are connected by one or more ionic bonds. A nanomaterial can be nanoparticles comprising sulfate groups disposed on at least a portion of the surface of the nanoparticles. The polymer material can be a polymer with pendant imidazolium groups. An ionic nanocomposite can be present as a film (e.g., a thin film). An ionic nanocomposite can be used in devices. A nanocomposite can be used in various coating application.

A polylactic acid solid composition includes: a polylactic acid having a weight average molecular weight of not more than 40,000, which is measured in terms of polystyrene standard by GPC; and a basic compound of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal, which is a residue of a molecular weight reduction accelerator. The basic compound is contained in an amount in a range of 0.5 to 20 mass %.

The present invention relates to processes and systems for preparing nanoparticles, cellular or viral membranes and/or cellular or viral membrane coated nanoparticles using or comprising, inter alia, a multi-inlet vortexing reactor, tangential flow filtration (TFF) and/or a high shear fluid processor such as a microfluidizer (or a microfluidizer processor). The present invention also relates to the nanoparticles, cellular or viral membranes and/or cellular or viral membrane coated nanoparticles prepared by the present processes and systems, and the uses and/or applications of the nanoparticles, cellular or viral membranes and/or cellular or viral membrane coated nanoparticles.

Spent filter media material may be blended with a classic material, such as high-density polyethylene, polypropylene, polybutylene succinate, or polylactic acid, to form a filled plastic composition. The spent filter media may include spent diatomaceous earth, spent perlite, and/or residues thereof. The composition may be performed by co-extruding a mixture of the plastic material and the spent filter media. Surprisingly, the spent filter media may be used as-supplied and without the need to dry the material. The resulting plastic composite material has numerous uses, including, for example, litter scoops and eating utensils.

A soft body robotic device includes a body made at least partly from a polylactic-acid-based material, and a magnetic movement mechanism connected to the body. The magnetic movement mechanism is configured to support movement of the soft body robotic device and to interact with an external magnetic control device for movement of the soft body robotic device.

The present invention relates to a multicomponent plastic product comprising at least two different thermoplastic materials, wherein a first thermoplastic material comprises a first thermoplastic polymer, and a second thermoplastic material comprises at least a second thermoplastic polymer and at least one degrading enzyme able to degrade the first thermoplastic polymer. The second thermoplastic material has a transformation temperature lower than the transformation temperature of the first thermoplastic material, and the first and second plastic materials are at least partially adjacent in the multicomponent product.

The disclosure provides porous scaffold that include a plurality of microspheres, where the microspheres include a biodegradable polymer blended with a graphene family material (GFM), micro spheres, and methods for making and using such scaffolds and microspheres.

The present invention relates to polymer compositions comprising at least one basic additive, and processes comprising at least one process step to obtain the polymer composition or articles comprising the polymer composition. The polymer composition generally displays an enhanced biodegradability.

A composite powder containing microstructured particles obtainable by means of a method in which large particles are combined with small particles, wherein the large particles have an average particle diameter within the range from 10 μm to 10 mm, the large particles comprise at least one polymer, the small particles are arranged on the surface of the large particles and/or distributed inhomogeneously within the large particles, the small particles comprise a calcium salt, the small particles have an average particle size within the range from 0.01 μm to 1.0 mm,
wherein the particles of the composite powder have an average particle size d.sub.50 within the range from 10 μm to less than 200 μm, and the fine-particle fraction of the composite powder is less than 50% by volume. Preferred application areas of the composite powder encompass its use as additive, especially as polymer additive, as additive substance or starting material for compounding, for compounding, for the production of components, for applications in medical technology and/or in microtechnology and/or for the production of foamed articles. The invention therefore also provides components obtainable by selective laser sintering of a composition comprising a composite powder according to the invention, except for implants for uses in the field of neurosurgery, oral surgery, jaw surgery, facial surgery, neck surgery, nose surgery and ear surgery as well as hand surgery, foot surgery, thorax surgery, rib surgery and shoulder surgery.