Bismuth Nanoparticle and Polyhydroxybutyrate Coatings Enhance the Radiopacity of Absorbable Inferior Vena Cava Filters for Fluoroscopy-Guided Placement and Longitudinal Computed Tomography Monitoring in Pigs.

Inferior vena cava filters (IVCFs) constructed with poly-p-dioxanone (PPDO) are promising alternatives to metallic filters and their associated risks and complications. Incorporating high-Z nanoparticles (NPs) improves PPDO IVCFs' radiopacity without adversely affecting their safety or performance. However, increased radiopacity from these studies are insufficient for filter visualization during fluoroscopy-guided PPDO IVCF deployment. This study focuses on the use of bismuth nanoparticles (BiNPs) as radiopacifiers to render sufficient signal intensity for the fluoroscopy-guided deployment and long-term CT monitoring of PPDO IVCFs. The use of polyhydroxybutyate (PHB) as an additional layer to increase the surface adsorption of NPs resulted in a 2-fold increase in BiNP coating (BiNP-PPDO IVCFs, 3.8%; BiNP-PPDO + PHB IVCFs, 6.2%), enabling complete filter visualization during fluoroscopy-guided IVCF deployment and, 1 week later, clot deployment. The biocompatibility, clot-trapping efficacy, and mechanical strength of the control PPDO (load-at-break, 6.23 ± 0.13 kg), BiNP-PPDO (6.10 ± 0.09 kg), and BiNP-PPDO + PHB (6.15 ± 0.13 kg) IVCFs did not differ significantly over a 12-week monitoring period in pigs. These results indicate that BiNP-PPDO + PHB can increase the radiodensity of a novel absorbable IVCF without compromising device strength. Visualizing the device under conventional radiographic imaging is key to allow safe and effective clinical translation of the device.

Ammoxidation of Ethane to Acetonitrile and Ethylene: Reaction Transient Analysis for the Co/HZSM-5 Catalyst.

Ethane ammoxidation to acetonitrile and ethylene over the Co/HZSM-5 catalysts was revisited based on both transient and steady-state performance evaluation to elucidate the structure/reactivity relationships. We suggested that the exchanged Co2+ cation encapsulated in the zeolite favors the formation of acetonitrile and ethylene, whereas nanosized cobalt oxide particles without close proximity with the HZSM-5 only favor CO2 formation. Excess Brønsted acid sites of the zeolites may act as a reservoir for NH3, which inhibits the CO2 formation through the NH3-mediated oxidative dehydrogenation mechanism. According to the transient kinetic analysis, the time constants τ from the back-transient decay for NH3 and CO2 are both 7.7 min, which decreased to 2.7 min for acetonitrile and further decreased to 3-4 s for ethane, ethylene, and O2. Assuming first-order reaction kinetics, the rate constants for the formation of acetonitrile and CO2 are 0.37 and 0.13 min-1, respectively, from their corresponding reactive intermediates.