There is provided a shaped article made of porous hydrogel that contains a polyvinyl alcohol acetalized with a dialdehyde, wherein the shaped article after freeze-drying has a pore size of 0.1 to 50 m. Preferably, the shaped article made of porous hydrogel further contains a water-soluble polysaccharide. Also preferably, an acetalization degree of the polyvinyl alcohol is 1 to 50 mol %. Also preferably, the shaped article made of porous hydrogel is in the form of particles with a sphere-equivalent diameter of 1 to 20 mm. Such a shaped article made of porous hydrogel exhibits high strength and good survivability of microorganisms.

Disclosed is a method of preparing a Hyaluronic acid-Alginate (HA-Alg) hydrogel, the method comprising: dissolving a required amount of amine-hyaluronic acid (HA-NH.sub.2) in a first buffer solution to form an HA-NH.sub.2 solution of a first predefined concentration; dissolving a required amount of aldehyde-alginate (Alg-CHO) in a second buffer solution to form an Alg-CHO solution of a second predefined concentration; and mixing the HA-NH.sub.2 solution and the Alg-CHO solution in a predefined ratio for preparing the HA-Alg hydrogel.

Provided herein is a method for preparing an emulsion, comprising the steps of allowing a dispersed phase liquid to flow from one side to the other side of a multi-hole plate through a plurality of micro-wells of the multi-hole plate while allowing a continuous phase liquid to flow, parallel to the multi-hole plate, on the other side of the multi-hole plate, shearing the dispersed phase liquid passing through the multi-hole plate to form liquid microspheres in the flowing continuous phase liquid. Further provided herein are an apparatus for preparing an emulsion and a process system for preparing microcarrier particles, which can be used for preparing emulsions and microcarrier particles on a large scale.

Process for the production of a polymer foam with use of hydrogel pearls as porosity generating template, comprising the steps of:providing a matrix of polymer or prepolymer in viscous state including, as a dispersed phase, hydrogel pearls, where said pearls are dispersed in said matrix so as to generate intercommunicating cells,causing the solidification of the matrix of polymer or prepolymer to obtain said polymer foam including said hydrogel pearls, characterised in that it comprises the operation of subjecting the thus obtained foam to conditions which cause the dehydration of said hydrogel pearls so as to obtain a reduction of volume of said pearls andremoving the dehydrated pearls by immersion in water of the polymer foam or by exposure of the foam to a flow of pressurized gas or water.

An alginate-polyacrylamide IPN hydrogel formulation for 3D printing using a dual syringe system where the components that initiate polymerization of each network remain separated until printing. The dual syringe system may use a single motor and mixing head to combine both parts of the hydrogel formulation for controlled polymerization of the material. The elastic and time-dependent viscoelastic properties (stress relaxation) are tuned to match mammalian tissues by changing the crosslink density and monomer concentration. The fracture energy of the material may be increased by soaking in a calcium chloride solution. The resulting IPN polymer material may find application in soft tissue medical simulation devices, particularly because the mechanical properties may be tuned to mimic the elastic and viscoelastic properties of muscle tissue and may be 3D printed in the shape of anatomical parts.

A three-dimensional network aqueous gel and a manufacturing method thereof are disclosed. A water-soluble polymer is first added into a solvent and uniformly mixed, followed by hydrolysis to form a sol, and vacuum is applied to convert the sol into a gel, followed by a polycondensation reaction to form a three-dimensional network aqueous gel. The three-dimensional network aqueous gel is formed of the water-soluble polymer that includes a group including sodium alginate and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. The water-soluble polymer is interconnected to form a three-dimensional network structure. The three-dimensional network aqueous gel is of a gel-enclosed form, which uses the three-dimensional network structure formed of a high-molecule polymer to enclose medicine, so as to more effectively protect the active ingredient and provide an effect of controlled released to thereby extend therapeutic period and reduce side effects of irritating skin.

A process for preparing a porous material provides a mixture (M1) of a water-soluble bio-based polyphenolic polymer and tannin biopolymers as compound (C1) and water. Mixture (M1) reacts with an aqueous solution of at least one polyvalent metal ion to prepare a gel (A), the gel (A) is exposed to a water-miscible solvent (L) to obtain a gel (B), and the gel (B) is dried. Porous materials which can be obtained in this process find application as thermal insulation material, carrier material for load and release of actives, batteries, electrode materials in batteries, fuels cells or electrolysis, for catalysis, for capacitors, for consumer electronics, for building and construction applications, for home and commercial appliance applications, for temperature-controlled logistics applications, for vacuum insulation applications, for apparel applications, for food applications, for cosmetic applications, for biomedical applications, for agricultural applications, for consumer applications, for packaging applications or for pharmaceutical applications.

A fire-protecting insulation product has air-laid mineral wool fibres and a binder. The binder is the result of curing a binder composition comprising at least one hydrocolloid. The product further comprises a particulate endothermic material.

Compostable seaweed-based compositions, and associated systems and methods are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the seaweed-based composition comprises (i) a phycocolloid including agar, alginate, carrageenan, and/or unprocessed seaweed, (ii) a polymer comprising thermoplastic starch (TPS), polycaprolactone (PCL), polylactic acid (PLA), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), polyesteramide (PEA), polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT), polybutylene succinate (PBS), and/or polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH), and (iii) an additive, wherein the phycocolloid comprises no more than 90 wt % of the seaweed-based composition, the biopolymer comprises no more than 80 wt % of the seaweed-based composition, and the additive comprises no more than 50 wt % of the seaweed-based composition.

The present disclosure relates to a three-dimensionally (3D) printed tissue engineering scaffold for tissue regeneration and a method for manufacturing the 3D printed tissue engineering scaffold. The 3D printed tissue engineering scaffold may be fabricated at least in part from a composite material having an insoluble component and soluble component. The three-dimensional tissue scaffolds of the disclosure may be fabricated via a rapid prototyping machine. In some instances, the three-dimensional shape of the fabricated tissue engineering scaffold may correspond to a three-dimensional shape of a tissue defect of a patient.