Biomedical applications of natural and synthetic polymer based nanocomposites.

Various nanomaterials have been studied for their biomedical application in recent years. Among them, nanocomposites have a prominent medical application in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of various diseases. Nanocomposites are made up of polymeric matrix layers composed of synthetic or natural polymers like chitosan, polyethylene glycol, etc. Polymer nanocomposites are inorganic nanoparticles dispersed in a polymer matrix. There are two types of polymeric nanocomposites which include natural and synthetic polymer nanocomposites. These nanocomposites have various biomedical applications, such as medical implants, wound healing, wound dressing, bone repair and replacement, and dental filling. Polymeric nanocomposites have a wide range of biomedical applications due to their high stability, non-immunogenic nature, sustained drug delivery, non-toxic, and can escape reticuloendothelial system uptake along with drug bioavailability improvement. In this review, we have discussed various types of natural and synthetic polymer nanocomposites and their biomedical applications.

Smart apparel using nano graphitic carbon nitride/PVA in a cotton cloth for military application.

An eco-friendly, low-cost smart attire was made of metal-free graphitic carbon nitride (GCN) as a semiconductor material in a biodegradable synthetic polymer (polyvinyl alcohol) and cotton material. Various concentrations such as 0.04, 0.08, 0.12, 0.16, and 0.2 weight percentage of GCN is entrenched in PVA. UV absorption spectra displayed two peaks, one matching PVA (317 nm) and the other excitonic peak of GCN (390 nm).0.2% GCN in PVA showed a low bandgap (2.84 eV) harnessing maximum solar light. Due to the charge transfer mechanism, enhanced blue emission at 450 nm was observed for the higher concentration of graphitic carbon nitride. Due to more defect centers of higher weight percentage of GCN, higher electrical conductivity (7.6462 × 10-3 S/cm) and optical conductivity (0.113 S) were noticed. Due to the higher conductivity of 5GCN, it was embedded with cotton fabric. The fabricated smart apparel can be used to manufacture flexible, lightweight, eco-friendly optoelectronic devices. Further, according to literature, GCN possesses high antibacterial activity, hence it can serve as clothing for the military and medical community.