Recent advances in the structure, synthesis, and applications of natural polymeric hydrogels.

Hydrogels, polymeric network materials, are capable of swelling and holding the bulk of water in their three-dimensional structures upon swelling. In recent years, hydrogels have witnessed increased attention in food and biomedical applications. In this paper, the available literature related to the design concepts, types, functionalities, and applications of hydrogels with special emphasis on food applications was reviewed. Hydrogels from natural polymers are preferred over synthetic hydrogels. They are predominantly used in diverse food applications for example in encapsulation, drug delivery, packaging, and more recently for the fabrication of structured foods. Natural polymeric hydrogels offer immense benefits due to their extraordinary biocompatible nature. Hydrogels based on natural/edible polymers, for example, those from polysaccharides and proteins, can serve as prospective alternatives to synthetic polymer-based hydrogels. The utilization of hydrogels has so far been limited, despite their prospects to address various issues in the food industries. More research is needed to develop biomimetic hydrogels, which can imitate the biological characteristics in addition to the physicochemical properties of natural materials for different food applications.

Nanochemoprevention with therapeutic benefits: An updated review focused on epigallocatechin gallate delivery.

Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is a natural phenolic compound found in many plants, especially in green tea, which is a popular and restorative beverage with many claimed health benefits such as antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-microbial, anti-diabetic, and anti-obesity activities. Despite its great curative potential, the poor bioavailability of EGCG restricts its clinical applcation. However, nanoformulations of EGCG are emerging as new alternatives to traditional formulations. This review focuses on the nanochemopreventive applications of various EGCG nanoparticles such as lipid-based, polymer-based, carbohydrate-based, protein-based, and metal-based nanoparticles. EGCG hybridized with these nanocarriers is capable of achieving advanced functions such as targeted release, active targeting, and enhanced penetration, ultimately increasing the bioavailability of EGCG. In addition, this review also summarizes the challenges for the use of EGCG in therapeutic applications, and suggests future directions for progress.

Improvement of the uniformity and dipole ferromagnetism in Co nanodots assemblies on Pb/Si(111) via step tuned dimensionality variation.

We fabricated quasi-one-dimensional Co nanochain assemblies and two-dimensional Co nanodot assemblies on Pb/Si(111) substrates by step decoration. The morphology and magnetic properties of these two kinds of Co nanodot assemblies were investigated by in situ scanning tunneling microscopy and magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements. It was found that the steps cannot only improve the uniformity of the Co nanodots, but also increase the critical temperature T(c). Monte Carlo simulation indicates that the ferromagnetism mainly originates from the dipolar interactions and the critical temperature T(c) can be enhanced by introducing an in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy via the step tuned dimensionality variation of the nanodot assemblies.