Developing biomaterials for tissue regeneration is a promising alternative for the recovery of various tissues, including bone. Atorvastatin (ATV) has a series of beneficial effects which includes bone anabolism, vasodilating, and anti-inflammatory actions. The main objective of this work was to produce and characterize polycaprolactone (PCL) matrices incorporated with ATV. Samples were prepared by the solvent casting technique. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and in vitro release studies were performed. FTIR analysis showed that no chemical bonds were formed between PCL and ATV. SEM analysis showed that the amount of ATV affects sample morphology. According to XRD and thermal analysis, the main ATV characteristics were maintained. The studies showed that PCL/ATV samples release the drug in a prolonged way since its release reaches around 50% after 15000 minutes of analysis and the model that showed the best fit for the studied matrices was the Higuchi model, with a correlation coefficient above 0.95.

Polymers such as the biocompatible polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and the polysaccharide chitosan (Chi), a pH-sensitive polymer, have been studied for drug delivery applications and scaffolds production. In this work, matrices of PHB and Chi were produced by compression molding (SPHB-Chi) and loaded with a broad-spectrum biocide chlorhexidine (CHX) (SPHB-Chi-CHX). The matrices were analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The SPHB-Chi capacity to absorb and deliver CHX was evaluated by UV-Vis. The antibacterial activity of the samples against S. aureus, P. aeruginosa and E. coli (most common pathogens that cause infection in several body sites) was evaluated using the disk-agar diffusion method. The CHX release results were fitted by the Power Law model. The results suggested that the morphology and the CHX delivery profile were directly related to the Chi amount in the samples and also showed that the SPHB-Chi-CHX is able to inhibit the microorganism proliferation, constituting it as a potential candidate for oral applications.

RESUMO Os processos de adsorção podem ser empregados no tratamento de efluentes líquidos contendo metais pesados visando a reduzir os danos ambientais. Porém, o alto custo dos materiais adsorventes justifica a aplicação de adsorventes alternativos, como a fibra de coco (FC) e a quitosana (Q). Assim, este trabalho teve como objetivo desenvolver compósitos porosos adsorventes a partir da mistura de polietileno graftizado com anidrido maleico/FC/Q/NaCl, como agente porogênico (PE-g-MA/FC/Q/NaCl), e avaliar estatisticamente a capacidade de adsorção do cromo (III) em solução, com auxílio do software Statistica 5.0®. Os resultados mostraram que a eficiência do processo sofreu influência das dimensões da FC, do teor de Q e do pH da solução contendo Cr (III). A capacidade máxima de remoção de Cr (III) por unidade de massa do compósito foi de 42,28 mg.g-1.

ABSTRACT Adsorption processes can be employed in the treatment of wastewater containing heavy metals to reduce environmental damage. However, the high cost of adsorbent materials justifies the application of alternative adsorbents, such as coconut fiber (CF) and chitosan (C). Thus, this study aimed to develop porous composite adsorbents from the mixture of grafted maleic anhydride polyethylene/CF/C/NaCl, as porogen agent (PE-g-MA/CF/C/NaCl), and evaluate statistically adsorption capacity of chromium (III) solution, with the aid of software Statistica 5.0®. The results showed that the process efficiency was influenced by the size of the CF, the content of C and the pH of the solution containing Cr (III). The maximum removal capacity of Cr (III) per unit mass of the composite was 42.28 mg.g-1.