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Subject: cellulose nanocrystals

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    Bioprinting of Pancreatic Cancer Cells for Improved Drug Testing
    (North Dakota State University, 2019) Rehovsky, Chad Austin
    Currently, many drugs are preclinically tested on two-dimensional cell cultures. However, this method does not adequately replicate the cellular interactions or diffusion gradient that occur in three-dimensional tissues, leading to poor indicators of how a drug may affect human tissues. The objective of this project was to use bioprinted pancreatic cancer cell cultures as a platform for three-dimensional drug testing. Various bioink formulations of cellulose, gelatin, and alginate were evaluated to determine which provided the best printability and cell viability. A cellulose nanocrystal and alginate hydrogel showed superior printability due to its shear thinning properties. Additionally, initial cell viability was nearly 80%, and it remained above 60% over four days. Use of a custom spinning bioreactor at 50 rpm resulted in no improvements to cell viability. Overall, the system shows potential as a drug testing platform to evaluate the effectiveness of various drug formulations on three-dimensional pancreatic cancer cell cultures.
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    Application of Cellulose Nanocrystals and Zinc Oxide as a Green Fire-Retardant System in High Density Polyethylene
    (North Dakota State University, 2019) Vahidi, Ghazal
    Polymeric materials are widely used in diverse applications. However, a major weakness in the majority of the thermoplastic polymers is their lack of ability to resist fire. Most of the chemicals and additives currently used to improve fire retardancy have deleterious effects on the environment. This research focuses on developing an environmentally safe and effective fire-retardant system for high density polyethylene (HDPE), using cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and zinc oxide (ZnO). The effect of CNCs coated with nano ZnO has been investigated for improving the fire resistance properties of the HDPE. Improved dispersion of CNCs into HDPE matrix was achieved by employing maleic anhydride as a coupling agent. It was found that addition of CNCs-ZnO can introduce a reasonable level of flame retardancy in HDPE matrix in addition to improving the maximum tensile strength and elongation at break.