Douglas C. Dragunski

• Doctor
• Professor (Associate) at Western Paraná State University

Despite the widespread application of electrospun membranes across various scientific fields, there remains a need for a deeper understanding of the molecular interactions between polymers and other compounds in precursor solutions for electrospinning. This study evaluates the molecular conformations of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with different degr...

This study aimed to evaluate the incorporation and release behavior of ibuprofen (IBU) in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and PVA-dendrimer (PVA-DEN) matrices using the electrospinning technique. PVA nanofibrous mats containing poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers and IBU were successfully produced and characterized. The nanofibrous mats were analyzed using...

Air pollution can expose the population to severe respiratory problems. Fibrous filters, such as those obtained by electrospinning nanofibers, have the potential to improve the filtration performance of standard filters. The aim of this work was to produce and evaluate the electrospinning of poly(caprolactone) (PCL) and poly(1-vinylpyrrolidone-co-v...

The development of new wound dressings made from biomaterials, which offer a better cost–benefit ratio and accelerate the healing process, is increasing nowadays. Various biopolymers can be electrospun to form functional membranes for wound healing. Therefore, in this study, chitosan and nanochitosan membranes with or without hyaluronic acid were p...

This work produced graphene oxide (GO)-reinforced curcumin (CUR)-loaded zein-based electrospun nanofibers. FTIR and XRD analyses confirmed the formation of interaction between zein, GO, and CUR. However, other than entanglement changes, as confirmed by DSC analysis, this composite formation had little effect on the thermal stability, surface polari...

Wound dressing devices composed of microfibers of poly(butylene-adipate-co-terephthalate) and poly-(ε-caprolactone) incorporated with ibuprofen were obtained by electrospinning technique. The effect of ibuprofen concentration (0, 10, and 20% m m-1) on morphology, spectroscopic, and thermal characterization was evaluated. The fibers containing ibupr...

Electrospinning was used to produce poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-based nanofibers containing nerolidol (NER) as the antimicrobial agent. The scanning electron microscopy results indicated the formation of homogeneous fibers in the absence of NER. However, its incorporation into the fiber prevented the complete solvent evaporation, ultimately leading t...

Films based on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and cationic starch (CS) were combined with different percentages of sorbitol (S; 15.0, 22.5, and 30.0% w v-1) to assess the effect of plasticizer on the films. Spectroscopic analyses confirmed the interaction between them. However, micrographs indicated the formation of sorbitol crystals on the surface of t...

In this study, the healing process of full-thickness skin wounds induced in Wistar rats (n = 75) was evaluated, divided into 5 treatments: negative control, PVA nanofiber film, and PVA nanofiber film added in concentrations of 3%, 6% and 10% with lyophilized extract of T. catappa. After euthanasia of 5 animals from each of the groups, at times 7, 1...

In this study, electrospun PVA membranes crosslinked with citric acid or glutaraldehyde and containing the antibiotic chloramphenicol (CLF) were obtained for the production of dressings. This material was characterized by SEM, FTIR, DSC, TGA, NMR, degree of swelling, and solubility. The SEM images showed the possibility of obtaining nanofibers with...

Protection in many service areas is mandatory for good performance in daily activities of workers, especially health areas. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is used to protect patients and health workers from contamination by harmful pathogens and body fluids during clinical attendance. The pandemic scenario caused by SARS-CoV-2 has shown that t...

Conventional textile effluent treatments cannot remove methylene blue, a mutagenic azo dye, and an endocrine disruptor, that remains in the drinking water after conventional water treatment. However, the spent substrate from Lentinus crinitus mushroom cultivation, a waste, could be an attractive alternative to remove persistent azo dyes in water. T...

Chemical modification reactions are viable alternatives for improving the properties of starch because they allow the insertion of molecules that change the original behavior of the polymer. Glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) is an example of a vinylic molecule added to starch to decrease its hydrophilicity and improve mechanical properties. This modifica...

The widespread use of pesticides requires effective detection and quantification tools to improve monitoring of environmental quality. Electrochemical sensors offer a fast and sensitive response, and can also be optimized by combining several constituents and techniques, including biodegradable materials, being useful in the determination of chemic...

This work aimed to use the electrospinning technique to obtain PBAT/PLA polymer fibers, with the semiconductors rutile titanium dioxide (TiO2-R) and magnetite iron oxide (Fe3O4), in order to promote the photocatalytic degradation of environmental contaminants. The parameters used in the electrospinning process to obtain the fibers were distance fro...

This study used electrospinning to produce a water-soluble polymeric nanofibrous film incorporated with quercetin. Scanning Electron Microscopy showed that the diameter of the nanofibers decreased from (670 ± 200) nm to (390 ± 90) nm as the amount of quercetin increased from 0 to 15%. The FTIR confirmed the presence of quercetin in the films and su...

Lentinus crinitus bioaccumulates lithium in mycelia, but bioaccumulation may be affected by pH of the culture medium. Lithium is used in clinical practice as a mood stabilizer and antidepressant. This study aimed to assess the effect of culture medium pH and lithium source (LiCl or Li2CO3) on lithium bioaccumulation in vegetative mycelia of L. crin...

Lentinus crinitus basidiocarps are an alternative to antimicrobials, but the stipe (24% basidiocarp) is discarded even with potential antimicrobial activity. This study evaluated the antimicrobial activity of L. crinitus basidiocarp pileus and stipe extracts against foodborne pathogens and food spoilage microorganisms. Basidiocarps of L. crinitus w...

This research is aimed at investigating the possible use of cassava agroindustry solid wastes in manufacturing adsorbents and their use in removing heavy metals Cd 2+ , Pb 2+ , and Cr total from water. Thus, a pilot study was conducted in two main steps: (1) obtaining and characterizing the adsorbents and (2) laboratory studies focused on the evalu...

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a substance that can cause suffocation and death and one of its main sources is the emission of gases in the exhaust of motor vehicles, due to incomplete combustion. For this reason, several countries have important legislation on vehicular pollution. Several analytical techniques for determining CO are used; however, most o...

Started over 100 years ago, electrospinning became popular in material science because of its versatility in producing efficient devices for the most several applications. Produced from natural or synthetic polymers, or the combination of both, the electrospun nanofibers present high surface area, with variable porosity. Furthermore, depending on t...

The main objective was to develop renewable materials derived from chicken feathers to remove chromium in the wastewater of the electroplating industry. The chicken feather biosorbents (BCF) were modified with H2O2, H2SO4, and NaOH 0.1 mol L−1 solutions, generating CF.H2O2, CF.H2SO4, and CF.NaOH. These were characterized through chemical analysis,...

The electrospinning has been widely used in tissue engineering for the preparation of wound dressing with the most varied polymers and drugs. Considering that propolis has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory characteristics, the aim was to develop electrospun fibers from PBAT (poly (butylene-adipate-co-terephthalate)/PCL (poly(e-caprolactone) conta...

Iron deficiency anemia is a challenge to global public health, and the development of iron-enriched foods are an opportunity to reduce this problem. Lentinus crinitus is a basidiomycete with high metal bioaccumulation capacity that is consumed by Amazonian Indians. This study aimed to evaluate iron bioaccumulation in the mycelial biomass of L. crin...

Wound dressings are alternatives for the treatment of burn injuries because they facilitate the recovery of the wounded area, and they still allow the incorporation of bioactive agents in their structure for further release in specific regions of the body. This work evaluated the potential application of monoaxial electrospun poly(butylene-adipate-...

In this work, blends based on poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) and poly(lactic acid) with the incorporation of zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) (in concentrations of 6.35 × 10–4 and 1.46 × 10–2 mol L−1) were fabricated using the electrospinning method. The ZnPC is known for its use as a photosensitizer in photodynamic therapy (PDT) with pho...

Due to the development of new products by the pharmaceutical industry, in which the emerging pollutants waste is generated, it is extremely important to study new methodologies capable of detecting such substances, preferentially in very small concentrations, because they are considered a threat to the environment and health of the population. This...

Polymeric films have been increasingly investigated due to the ease of miniaturization and integration in several sensor devices. Films obtained from the electrospinning technique have a controlled diameter and homogeneity, and substances can be incorporated into the polymeric network. Electrospinning fiber of chitosan (Ch) and poly(ethylene oxide)...

Drug delivery devices are attractive alternatives to drugs usually orally administrated. Therefore, this work aimed to produce PLA/PBAT-based nanofibers for the controlled release of cilostazol, evaluating the effect of different drug concentrations (20 and 30%) over the properties of the fibers. The fibers were characterized by scanning electron m...

Babassu oil is extracted from the babassu palm, one of the most important plants in the north and northeast Brazilian regions, and like many biofuels, it does not have adequate properties to be used as pure fuel, especially under low-temperature conditions. Therefore, researches to improve the physical-chemical properties of these biofuels are need...

Considering the potential application of electrospun nanofibers as drug delivery systems and the advantages of controlled releases of nonsteroidal drugs (e. g. aceclofenac), which are harmful to the gastric system, producing nanofibers based on poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and butylene poly (butylene adipate)-co-(butylene terephthalate) (PBAT) for trans...

The 8th author’s name should be corrected as follows: Edvani Curti Muniz

The incorporation of plant-based extracts into polymer-based coatings is an efficient alternative to increase the shelf-life of stored fruit and to decrease or even prevent bacterial growth. Considering strawberries, it is also important to preserve their high antioxidant activity. Hence, this work evaluated the efficiency of a coating based on nat...

Iron bioaccumulation in basidiomycetes is an alternative to recover ferrous sulfate from titanium dioxide pigment production and to produce an iron-enriched mycelial biomass. This study aimed to evaluate iron bioaccumulation capacity in vegetative mycelium of edible and medicinal fungi grown in malt extract liquid medium with different ferrous sulf...

Basidiomycetes can bioaccumulate high iron contents, but there are few studies on iron availability from the mycelial biomass in order to support their use as an iron-enriched fungal food. This study aimed to evaluate the in vitro iron bioaccumulation and availability in the mycelial biomass of edible and medicinal basidiomycetes grown in two disti...

Wound dressings are based on the creation of ideal environments for cell mobility, gas exchanges and to promote tissue healing and regeneration, besides controlling bacterial proliferation. Electrospinning is a simple, cheap and common technique used for such purposes and Ecovio®, a polymeric blend based on biocompatible polymers (poly(butylene adi...

Este trabalho teve o objetivo avaliar o efeito da aplicação de revestimentos comestíveis a base de amido e caseína sobre as características físico-químicas de goiabas. Os tratamentos utilizados foram: Testemunha (sem aplicação); A (revestimento de amido); AC (revestimento de amido + caseína); C (revestimento de caseína). As goiabas foram analisadas...

The production of polymeric fibers by the electrospinning technique stands out as being simple, accessible, versatile and with potential use of polymer microfibers in many areas of science and technology. In this article, polymeric microfibers of PBAT/PLA and carbon nanotubes were obtained using a Fractional Factorial Design. The statistical result...

This work aimed to perform a heat treatment on biodegradable polymeric membranes produced by the electrospinning technique to be used in the retention of residual drugs from water. For this, a blend with a concentration of 20% (w/v) was produced, composed of 75% Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) and 25% poly (ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL) (w/w...

Electrospinning is a strand of nanoscience for the production of fibers in nano and micrometric scales and when combined with other techniques it becomes a powerful tool for application in various branches of science. A promising combination of electrospinning is photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photodynamic inactivation of microorganisms (PDI) for t...

Guava is a perishable fruit susceptible to post-harvest losses. So, the development of biodegradable films based on acetylated cassava starch (ACS) and hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) could be an alternative to increase guavas (Psidium guajava L.) shelf life. Films were characterized by solubility, opacity, water vapor transport, and thickness. Mass l...

Biosorption of the red 4B dye was evaluated using non-colonized sugarcane bagasse and colonized by Pleurotus ostreatus. The fungal colonization caused an increase in the acid and phenolic groups, making the biosorbent surface more positive, with lower thermal stability due to decomposition of lignocellulosic compounds, lower pHpcz, and smaller pore...

Iron and zinc bioaccumulation in mycelial biomass of different medicinal basidiomycetes was evaluated in order to produce metal-enriched mycelial biomass as an alternative functional food from non-animal sources and based on biotechnology processes. Pleurotus ostreatus strain U2-9, U2-11, U6-8, and U6-9, Pleurotus eryngii strain U8-11, Schizophyllu...

This study aimed at evaluating the growth and essential oil content of Salvia officinalis L. (sage) inoculated with two species of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) Rhizophagus clarus and Claroideoglomus etunicatum under different phosphorous (P) levels. The treatments were prepared in a sterile substrate (sand, vermiculite and organic compound (1...

This paper reports the development of an electrochemical sensor using electrospun polymeric fibers of PBAT (poly (butylene adipate co-terephthalate))/PLA (poly (lactic acid) containing functionalized carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and further calcined (at 500 °C under N2). The morphologies of the electrospun fibers were verified by SEM and those contain...

Coating fruits surface with biodegradable films obtained from starch is an alternative to delay the fruit ripening process. This study aimed to develop a biodegradable film from a polymer blend consisting of natural cassava starch, casein, and gelatin, and using sorbitol as the plasticizer. Among all the prepared biodegradable films (BFs), the one...

Agaricus subrufescens, a basidiomycete native to Brazil, is worldwide cultivated due to its medicinal properties. This fungus is capable of bioaccumulating metals in the mycelial biomass when cultured in the presence of them; however, this capacity is little explored for functional food production. This study aimed to evaluate the amount of iron or...

Lentinus crinitus is an important basidiomycete consumed by ethnic groups from the Amazon, commonly found in decomposing trees with high lignolytic and antioxidant activities. Lithium is a mood stabilizer, antiepileptic, antipsychotic, and antidepressant used in clinical practice. This study aimed to evaluate L. crinitus mycelial biomass bioaccumul...

This study aimed to macroscopically and microscopically evaluate the healing of skin wounds induced in rats by topical application of cassava polyamide biopolymer hydrogel. In total, 32 rats were used and divided into four groups (n= 8): negative control - saline solution; positive control - use of commercial ointment; experimental group - I - oint...

Films based on cassava starch have been widely used for fruit coating; however, it is necessary to incorporate other polymers in order to improve mechanical properties, once starch only leads to highly hydrophilic films, compromising their application. In this way, a polymeric blend based on cassava starch, chitosan and gelatin was combined with a...

RESUMO O cromo é um metal tóxico amplamente utilizado em processos industriais, por isso a constante preocupação com os efluentes líquidos gerados. Uma vez lançados sem o devido tratamento podem comprometer a qualidade do corpo receptor. Este trabalho teve por objetivo analisar o processo de biossorção na remoção de íons Cr(III) de soluções aquosas...

This work describes the preparation of sugarcane bagasse chemically modified with citric acid and evaluated adsorption of Cu(II), Cr(III) and Pb(II) ions from aqueous solutions by sugarcane bagasse in natura and chemically modified. Adsorption analyses in batch system were carried out in function of contact time with the adsorbent and adsorbate con...

Com alto valor nutritivo e ótimas propriedades sensoriais, a goiaba (Psidium gujava L.) possui grande valor de mercado. No entanto, seu comércio é limitado devido às suas características fisiológicas que reduzem a sua vida pós-colheita. Para aumentar a vida útil das goiabas são necessários o uso de novas tecnologias, entre elas vem se destacando o...

O objetivo desse trabalho foi investigar os efeitos do extrato de barbatimão nas propriedades físicas e estruturais de filmes de amido e caseína. Foram analisados filmes de amido (A), amido e caseína (AC), amido com barbatimão (AB), e amido e caseína com barbatimão (ACB). Os resultados indicaram que a espessura não se alterou, os filmes AB e ACB sã...

The pollution of water has been one of the greatest problems faced by the modern society, due to industrialization and urban growth. Rivers, lakes and seas have been continually suffering from the rising concentration of various pollutants, especially toxic elements. This study aimed to evaluate the use of cashew nut shell (Anacardium occidentale)...

Current research produced modified adsorbents from pinus bark with high removal capacity of Cd(II), Pb(II) and Cr(III) from water. Pinus barks were obtained directly from pinus logs and its biomass was chemically modified by solutions of H2O2, H2SO4 and NaOH 0.1 mol L⁻¹. The adsorbents were characterized by means of their chemical composition, thei...

The effectiveness of açaí endocarp as biosorbent for removal of Cd2+, Pb2+and Cr3+from single solute solutions was analyzed. The biomass of açaí endocarp was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy and determining the point of zero charge. The optimum conditions for adsorption process were obtained at solution pH 6.0 fo...

In this study, we investigated the behavior of aqueous and alcoholic extract of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) as an acid-base indicator, having as main objective the awakening interest in the use of natural indicators as an alternative to teaching of concepts of titration, equilibrium chemical and the law of Lambert-Beer. For the experiments we used s...

In the present work, the reactive red 120 dye (red-120) biosorption onto fungal biomass (FB) of wild Ganoderma stipitatum basidiocarps was studied. The chemical and morphological characterization of FB was performed from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, pH at point of zero charge (PHPZC) and BET surface area. A...

Pleurotus ostreatus is a white-rot mushroom that bioaccumulates metals in basidiocarps and vegetative mycelia. This fungus has been used in soil and water bioremediation of several heavy metals; however, there are few studies of lithium mycelial bioaccumulation for pharmacological use. The aim of this study was to evaluate lithium bioaccumulation i...

The removal of Cr3+ from water solutions by biosorbents from the rind, endosperm, and endosperm + episperm of the Jatropha curcas was evaluated. Adsorption tests were performed in batch systems for evaluating the influence of the solution’s pH, adsorbent mass, contact time, initial Cr3+ concentrations, and solution temperature during the adsorption...

Although the electrospinning (ES) is known for almost 80 years, only in the last two decades this technique has been widely used for obtaining micro- and/or nanofibers. Several aspects contributed for spreading the electrospinning, for instance, the easy operational aspects, affordable equipment, and highly versatile design setup, among others. So,...

In the present study, the synthesis and characterization of bifunctional organic–inorganic hybrid adsorbent for As(V) extraction in aqueous medium is described. The hybrid adsorbent was synthesized by coupling free radical addition with sol–gel processing, using 1-vinylimidazole (1-VI) as monomer, (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane (APTMS) as amino f...

This study evaluated the adsorption capacity of the methylene blue dye in macadamia residues, in natura and chemically modified. The waste characterization was performed using SME and spectroscopy in the infrared region, indicating the presence of carboxyl, carbonyl and hydroxyl groups. The equilibrium time for both residues was 240 minutes, follow...

In this study, a new method for the preconcentration of cadmium ions using modified aquatic macrophytes – Salvinia molesta as biosorbent in an on-line preconcentration system coupled to flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) was developed. The method is based on preconcentration of 20.0 mL sample at pH 3.75 through 35.0 mg of biosorbent at 10....

In this study, cassava starch-based films were produced to protect strawberries. Nine films from natural and modified starches (oxidized and acetylated) mixed to gelatin and plasticizers (sorbitol, glycerol and mannitol) were prepared for strawberry protection after harvesting. The films were homogeneous, transparent and flexible, and the ones that...

The contamination of water resources by metallic ions is a serious risk to public health and the environment. Therefore, a great emphasis has been given to alternative biosorption methods that are based on the retention of aqueous-solution pollutants; in the last decades, several agricultural residues have been explored as low-cost adsorbent. In th...

Translocation of minerals from substrate to mushrooms can change the medicinal characteristics, commercial value, and biological efficiency of mushroom. In the present study, we demonstrated that addition of iron to the substrate reduces the yield of Pleurotus ostreatus mushroom. The biological efficiency of the mushroom varied from 36.53% on the u...

Residues from the processing of cassava roots (Manihot esculenta Crantz), or cassava peels, are evaluated as chemically modified adsorbents with H2O2, H2SO4, and NaOH, in the removal of metal ions Cd(II), Pb(II), and Cr(III) from contaminated water. Modified adsorbents were chemically characterized for their chemical composition and pHPZC (point of...

In this study, the behavior of lead (Pb2+), chromium (Cr3+), and copper (Cu2+) ions in several aqueous solutions during biosorption of peach palm sheath colonized with Agaricus blazei (PS + A. blazei) was evaluated. The modifications of the chemical structure of the biosorbent due to fungal growth were verified by scanning electronic microscopy (SE...

This study aimed to analyze the efficiency of in natura and chemically modified with sodium hydroxide macadmia mesocarp as alternative adsorbents for removal of Pb2+ and Cr3+ from aqueous medium.

This study aimed to analyze the efficiency of in natura and chemically modified with sodium hydroxide macadamia mesocarp as alternative adsorbents for removal of Pb2+ and Cr3+ from aqueous medium. The effect of chemical modification on the in natura macadamia mesocarp with respect to chemical structure and morphological feature were verified by Fou...

This study aimed to analyze the efficiency of in natura and chemically modified with sodium hydroxide macadamia mesocarp as alternative adsorbents for removal of Pb 2+ and Cr 3+ from aqueous medium. The effect of chemical modification on the in natura macadamia mesocarp with respect to chemical structure and morphological feature were verified by F...

The large consumption of biodegradable films from cassava starch acetate (FCSA) as ingredients in food and pharmaceutical products requires the assessment of the possible toxicity of these products. The aim of this study was to investigate the toxicity of biodegradable film from cassava starch acetate after oral exposure of Wistar rats for 90 days....

The large consumption of biodegradable films from cassava starch acetate (FCSA) as ingredients in food and pharmaceutical products requires the assessment of the possible toxicity of these products. The aim of this study was to investigate the toxicity of biodegradable film from cassava starch acetate after oral exposure of Wistar rats for 90 days....