Research Area

Active Research fields

Synthesis and physical-chemical/biological characterization of biocompatible polymeric materials, oligosaccharide (cyclodextrins), lipid and systems derived therefrom which find application mainly in the field of modified and directed release  of biologically active substances (drugs, genes, proteins) (Drug Delivery Systems and targeting-DDST), and tissue engineering.

Research projects of the last 5 years

Collaborations

Lo Monte Attilio Ignazio, Dip. Discipline Chirurgiche, Oncologiche e Stomatologiche (Di.Chir.On.S.), Università Palermo (Italia);

Roberto Puleio, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia “A. Mirri”, Palermo (Italia);

Macneil Sheila, Department of Engineering Materials, Kroto Research Institute, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom.

Active research

Main equipment: Reactor microwave; High pressure homogenizer; electrospinning; ultracentrifuge; NANOSPRAYDRYING; Laminar flow hood; Fluorescence microscopy; rheometer; plasma reactor; Laser 810nm; FT-IR spectroscopy; Zetasizer NanoZS instrument; HPLC; UV-VIS detector; freeze-drying;  Rayonet and Polymer Photoreactors; system for microfluidics.

Services delivered under the right of third parties

Main services

• chemical and structural modifications of polymeric materials of industrial interest by the use of low environmental impact methods (microwaves, photo-irradiators),

• production of scaffolds for tissue engineering through innovative synthetic techniques and by electrospinning,

• resolution of issues related to the instability of pharmaceutical forms, cosmetic and diagnostic products,

• preparation and characterization of food industry products (release of pesticides, fertilizers, flavorings, preservatives),

• preparation of innovative pharmaceutical and biomedical systems able to increase the patient compliance,

• physicochemical characterization of polymeric and non polymeric derived materials by 1H-NMR, FT-IR, UV spectroscopy, rheological measurements, particle size determination, evaluation of surface electrical properties, optical microscopy and image analysis,

• determination of molecular weights and polydispersity index of polymeric materials by Size Exclusion Chromatography and Light Scattering,

• in vitro evaluation of bio-adhesive properties of materials of pharmaceutical, cosmetic and biomedical interest,

• short and long-term stability tests of polymeric and non-polymeric materials,

• determination of purity of polymeric and non-polymeric materials by chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques,

• evaluation of the in vitro release profile of biologically active substances from polymeric and non-polymeric systems,

• determination of the capacity of sanitary products to absorb aqueous and non aqueous liquids,

• in vitro evaluation of the cell compatibility of polymeric and non polymeric materials with different cell line models,

• capacity assessment of transfection of non-viral vectors carried DNA.