New Concept of Intelligent Wound Dressing
Substance losses, burns and injuries arising from various causes represent a constant problem encountered by homo sapiens throughout its existence. Rudimentary treatments, relatively effective and less effective, have left their mark on the way we perceive the presence and treatment of wounds caused by various factors. Searching through medical archives, we can trace the specific protocols for these medical conditions back to 2200 BC, when they were structured in three steps: 1) cleaning the skin lesion, 2) applying a dressing (from glue to various preparations) and 3 ) bandaging the skin lesion. Currently, the appearance of wounds on the skin is caused both by accidents in the performance of various activities and by certain diseases that manifest themselves through skin rashes or skin lesions. Their frequency is in the thousands, according to the latest statistics, affecting the majority of the population non-selectively. It is vital that skin lesions receive the necessary care and attention, commensurate with their severity. Being open wounds on the surface of the skin, it is essential that the treatment be meticulous and appropriate to their type, as skin lesions represent a threat to the patient's life. From infections to hydroelectrolytic imbalances specific to burns, the multitude of factors that influence healing highlight the need for a dressing that can be easily customized according to the specificity of the wound, the needs of the patient and that is affordable both from the point of view of production cost as well as its use, making death from skin lesions easily avoidable through an intelligent approach. One of the most complex biological processes and indispensable to humans is the healing of skin lesions. Healing involves a carefully regulated series of biochemical and cellular activities in tandem. Traditional therapies and substances of natural origin have been used to facilitate the regeneration process and accelerate the wound healing process, being applied with encouraging results. Despite the fact that these generally present a low cost, they can be more expensive than contemporary treatments and can be influenced by regional, seasonal factors, showing fluctuations from batch to batch, which could lead to unpredictable allergic reactions, side effects and inconsistent clinical findings. Currently, the standard of care for skin lesions is to clean the wound with antiseptic solutions to prevent infection, apply a dressing followed by bandaging to keep the dressing in place, and if necessary excision of the tissue that has become non-viable. In the case of diabetic ulcers, it is necessary to excise the tissue that has become non-viable and to maintain control over the level of glucose in the body.
Silver nanoparticles-loaded titanium dioxide coating towards immobilized photocatalytic reactor for water decontamination and bacterial deactivation under natural sunlight irradiation
The environmental implications of rapid industrialization, including rising pollution, depleted resources, the effects of climate change brought on by global warming, and unrestrained groundwater extraction, are contributing to a growing water scarcity crisis [1-3]. The improvements in quality of life are largely attributable to the innovations in manufacturing technology made possible by the Industrial Revolution, but these innovations also pose risks to the natural world and human health [1-3]. The textile business uses a wide variety of raw materials, including natural fibers like cotton as well as synthetic and woolen fibers, and the chemical components of dyes are just one example. The annual output of synthetic dyes is around 700,000 tons, and there are over 10,000 different varieties available. As much as 200,000 tons of synthetic dyes are released into the environment every year due to the inefficient dyeing technique commonly employed in the textile industry. According to the World Bank, the processing of textiles for dyeing and finishing accounts for between 17 and 20 percent of industrial wastewater [1-3]. Textile wastewaters contain a high biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrogen, color, acidity, high suspended particles, high dissolved solids, surfactants, dyestuffs, heavy metals, and other soluble chemicals [3] due to the variety of dyes used to color textile items. In particular, water-soluble reactive and azo dyes are employed to obtain the required color. Ten to twenty percent of the dyes used end up in the effluents, where they might harm wildlife and the ecosystem (carcinogenic or mutagenic). Headaches, nausea, skin irritation, respiratory difficulties, and congenital deformities are only some of the health problems linked to exposure to textile wastewater. There are repercussions for aquatic ecology, environmental biodiversity, and the quality of receiving water bodies. New, low-cost, and highly effective water treatment methods are needed to deal with polluted wastewater. Adsorption and coagulation, two common water purification methods, just concentrate pollutants by shifting them to other phases; they do not "eliminate" or "destroy" them. Sedimentation, filtration, chemical oxidation, and biotechnology are all examples of conventional water treatment methods, but they all have their drawbacks. These include insufficient removal, high chemical reagent consumption, high treatment costs, long treatment times, and the creation of toxic secondary pollutants. New water treatment procedures are needed to improve the quality of treated effluent [1-3]. The use of semiconductor particles in photocatalysis is gaining appeal as a solution to global pollution problems due to its shown efficiency in degrading a wide variety of contaminants. Photocatalyst-coated surfaces-based reactors have proven to be practical for long-term operation over photocatalytic powder-based reactors (i.e., slurry-based reactors) [4-5]. As a promising photo-electrode and photocatalyst, titanium dioxide (TiO2) has enjoyed wider applicability in photocatalytic hydrogen generation, solar cells, and remediation of organic contaminants among other photo-catalytic applications [4-6]. TiO2 has been recognized as one of the low-cost, most effective, and fascinating photo-catalyst as a result of its interesting thermal and chemical stability, desirable electronic features, others, and environmental benignity [6-8]. Pristine TiO2 semiconductor is characterized by a wide band gap that can only utilize the UV part of the light spectrum with a wavelength of less than 385 nm, which is just 5% of the sunlight energy capacity. Spectrum usability extension to visible regions warrants further and extensive research study [8-10]. Additionally, the quickness of the recombination of photo-generated holes and electrons further restricts the practical applicability of the semiconductor [10-12]. It is highly desirable to develop a cost-effective scalable strategy to over these drawbacks toward sustainable development and a clean environment using only natural sunlight irradiation [5-11]. In addition, it is preferred to fabricate them as films rather than powders as photocatalytic immobilized reactors are more practical than powder-based reactors [4-8]. Dye sensitization, supports, magnetic separation, and surface modification by doping with non-metals, metals, and transition metals and coupling with other semiconductors have all been used to enhance the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 photocatalyst. Higher photonic efficiency can be attained through the synergistic fine-tuning of features such as physical, chemical, and electronic, and these composites and hybrid materials based on TiO2 are creating a big trend. Doping has been widely studied as a means of altering the surface of TiO2. Rare earth metals, noble metals, and transition metals are all discussed in the existing literature on the surface modification of TiO2 doped with cations [4-12]. In this study, for the first time, Ag nanoparticles loaded mesoporous TiO2 coating was prepared and applied as an immobilized photocatalytic reactor for water decontamination and bacterial deactivation under natural sunlight irradiation.