The present invention provides a hydrophilic/oleophobic sponge, a preparation method and use thereof, and belongs to the technical field of functional material preparation. In the present invention, a modified solution is obtained by mixing a nanoparticle suspension with a modifier solution; the nanoparticle suspension includes silica-encapsulated Fe.sub.3O.sub.4 nanoparticle suspension and/or nano-silica ethanol suspension; the modifier solution includes chitosan-acetic acid aqueous solution and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) aqueous solution. The sponge is soaked in the modified solution, mixed and crosslinked with glutaraldehyde aqueous solution to obtain the hydrophilic/oleophobic sponge, conferring good oil-water separation ability on the sponge. The sponge effectively separates a heavy water layer from oil-water mixtures with such light oils as lubricating oil, engine oil, pump oil, crude oil, gasoline, and sunflower seed oil in a simple gravity-driven manner. The hydrophilic/oleophobic sponge prepared by the present invention has good application prospects in oil-water separation.

The present invention concerns a method for producing a hydrogel comprising the following steps in succession: a first step (i) of providing at least one powder of an anionic polymer (A) and at least one chitosan powder (B) comprising amine functions (—NH.sub.2); a second step (ii) consisting in dry mixing at least the powders (A) and (B) from the first step in order to form a mixture of powders; a third step (iii) of suspending the mixture of powders obtained from the second step in an aqueous medium having a pH that can enable the anionic polymer (A) to be dissolved without dissolving the chitosan (B); a fourth step (iv) of adding an acid to the suspension obtained from the third step in order to form the hydrogel; or the third (iii) and fourth (iv) steps are replaced by a mixing fifth step (v), comprising mixing an acidified aqueous medium including at least one compound (C) comprising at least one unit of a hexose or a unit derived from a hexose, and/or at least one phosphate of said compound (C), with said mixture comprising at least the powders (A) and (B) obtained from the second step (ii).

Textile compositions comprising at least one filamentous fungus are disclosed, as are methods for making and using such textile compositions. Embodiments of the textile compositions generally include at least one of a plasticizer, a polymer, and a crosslinker, in addition to the filamentous fungus. The disclosed textile compositions are particularly useful as analogs or substitutes for conventional textile compositions, including but not limited to leather.

Textile compositions comprising at least one filamentous fungus are disclosed, as are methods for making and using such textile compositions. Embodiments of the textile compositions generally include at least one of a plasticizer, a polymer, and a crosslinker, in addition to the filamentous fungus. The disclosed textile compositions are particularly useful as analogs or substitutes for conventional textile compositions, including but not limited to leather.

Textile compositions comprising at least one filamentous fungus are disclosed, as are methods for making and using such textile compositions. Embodiments of the textile compositions generally include at least one of a plasticizer, a polymer, and a crosslinker, in addition to the filamentous fungus. The disclosed textile compositions are particularly useful as analogs or substitutes for conventional textile compositions, including but not limited to leather.

A method of producing an injectable gel product is provided, comprising (a) cross-linking a first glycosaminoglycan (GAG) with a first crosslinking agent to produce a gel, wherein the charging ratio of crosslinking agent to disaccharide unit is below 0.15; (b) preparing particles of the gel; (c) mixing the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) gel particles with a second GAG to provide a mixture; (d) cross-linking the mixture with a second crosslinking agent to obtain cross-linking between the GAGs of the second, outer phase, thereby providing a gel having a first, inner phase of the cross-linked GAG gel particles, embedded in a gel of the second GAG outer phase; and (e) preparing injectable particles, each such particle containing a plurality of the cross-linked GAG gel particles of the first, inner phase. An injectable gel product, an aqueous composition, and a pre-filled syringe as also provided.

The invention relates to novel a high-volume swelling hydrogel which comprises a plurality of pores which are defined by an interpenetrating network, and/or a semi-interpenetrating network and/or simple cross-linked arrangement of a plurality of one or more species of hydrophilic polymers, optionally together with one or more biocompatible polymers and optionally together with one or more plasticising agents, characterised in that at least some of the pores are at least partially collapsed and/or flattened, and further characterised in that the interpenetrating network and/or semi-interpenetrating network and/or cross-linked arrangement which defines the collapsed and/or flattened pores is substantially unbroken. The invention also relates to a process for preparing such hydrogels, and to their use as an appetite suppressant.

A biopolymer composite of the invention comprising a) an alginate salt, b) chitosan, c) a plasticizer, d) a compatibilizer, and e) a thermoplastic polymer, wherein the alginate salt, the chitosan, the plasticizer and the compatibilizer are dispersed in a matrix of the thermoplastic polymer, is provide. A method, a masterbatch and a kit producing the biopolymer composite are also provided. Finally, articles comprising the biopolymer composite are provided.

The present invention is a process to produce Z-Chitosan to provide consistent and long-lasting antimicrobial, antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-spore, and anti-odor characteristics, the process comprises steps of preparing a liquid active agent comprising 50 ppm to 5,000 ppm aqueous solution of each of a Chitosan group, a herbal extract group, and a catalyst group using an emulsion crosslinking method for 24 to 144 hours at normal room conditions; preparing a powder form of the active agent by drying the liquid active agent; encapsulating the powder form of the active agent within a plastic, a polymer, a fabric to make a masterbatch of the product, and finally blending 1 to 10 percent of the masterbatch with a batch of plastic, polymer, or fabric to make an antimicrobial product, whereby the product shows antimicrobial and self-sanitizing efficacy for contact time between 2 hours to 24 hours and maintains its antimicrobial efficacy in the scale of years in different environment conditions.

Textile compositions comprising at least one filamentous fungus are disclosed, as are methods for making and using such textile compositions. Embodiments of the textile compositions generally include at least one of a plasticizer, a polymer, and a crosslinker, in addition to the filamentous fungus. The disclosed textile compositions are particularly useful as analogs or substitutes for conventional textile compositions, including but not limited to leather.