STEM I

STEM is a class taught by Dr. Crowthers. During his class, there are two major research projects conducted, the first being an independent research project. During the summer, students are asked to narrow down topics that interest them in preparation for this project, and then the first half of the year is spent conducting it. Learning about effective brainstorming methods and how to read professional research papers, students improved upon their presentation skills and public speaking during the various fairs. Throughout the first three terms, Dr. C holds update meetings in which each student will start by presenting a paper in the earlier meetings, and then by C term be able to present their findings from their project. Working collaboratively with your peers to brainstorm and determine topics, each student can get constant feedback on their projects.

Designing and Applying and Alginate-Based Biopolymer for Adhesive Bandages

My project explored the uses and effects of different alginate concentrations with varying nanoparticle additions, finding their compressive strength and testing on brown planarian. My research was aimed to determine how to mitigate plastic pollution from polythlyene bandages, as well as replace the absorbent pad on bandages to reduce bacterial infection and expedite the wound healing process. I found that higher concentrations of these alginate solutions had the highest compressive strength which would lead to a more dependable product, as well as that mild concentrations of alginate with higher nanoparticle additions expedited the wound healing process the most.

Abstract

Although global warming's irreversible effects are increasing, they are still being taken lightly. Plastic pollution's ever-growing rates have become pressing now more than ever with the increased use of polyethylene products. Around 2300 tons of polyethylene bandages have been either burned or thrown away in U.S. hospitals each year, further contributing to the already steep plastic pollution rates. Typical drug store bandages, specifically tissue bandages, don't allow wounds to heal properly, and plastic bandages contribute heavily to plastic pollution due to their inability to degrade when burned or disposed of. This project aimed to determine the most ideal alginate and nanoparticle concentration for a hydrogel, that will serve as an effective wound dressing that reduces bacterial infection, in replacement for typical polyethylene bandages. Various alginate concentrations were combined due to their wound absorption properties, with differing nanoparticles and nanoparticle concentrations, and then cross-linked with calcium chloride to form a hydrogel. Once created they were placed in a freeze dryer to remove excess water, and then tested for compressive strength which found the most durable hydrogel. The hydrogel part of the bandage was tested on brown planaria, where each sample was tested, and found that the sample with 5% alginate with the gelatin nanoparticle proved to have the fastest recovery rate. Further applications include testing a variety of nanoparticles, some biodegradable like gelatin and some non-biodegradable like silica as tested in this project.

Graphical Abstract

Supplemental Documents

Click here to read my supplemental documents!

Researchable Question

How can the materials that typical drug store bandage absorbent pads are composed of, be improved to allow for enhanced wound healing with rapid recovery rates, as well as be biodegradable?

Hypothesis

If the addition of environmentally friendly nanoparticles is added to varying alginate concentrations to make a biopolymer hydrogel, then when lyophilized they will be able to be tested for compressive strength and wound healing to be then applied to an already proven biodegradable bandage.

Background

Around 2300 tons of bandages have either been burned or thrown away in U.S. hospitals each year, many of them being made of nonbiodegradable polyethylene plastics. Polyethylene is a commonly produced plastic and even though it is durable, versatile, and cost-effective, it has had a detrimental impact on the environment. Often disposed of by landfill or incineration, the plastic itself is not biodegradable and its toxic remains eventually end up in aquatic environments, which can cause entanglement with marine animals (Yao et al., 2022). Common drug store bandages can also lead to bacterial infection due to an overly moist environment for the wound, as well as chemical contamination from the disposal of the product. Currently, there are some alginate-based products on the market due to their ideal wound absorption and reducing bacterial infection properties, however, their low mechanical properties detract from their overall effectiveness. The addition of select nanoparticles such as hydroxyapatite has been tested to improve upon these mechanical properties (Sánchez-Fernández et al., 2021), however, the margin was extremely low leading to the need for an exploration of various nanoparticles. Further, the testing of biodegradable nanoparticles such as gelatin and silica has not been investigated, as this would aid in the overall environmental impact of this bandage. Global warming due to pollution, specifically plastic pollution, has been an ever-present issue in today's world. From the multitude of plastic products that humans use to their common misplacement when disposing of the materials, millions of tons are burned. This burnt plastic ends up in marine waters, and even on the side of the road (Iroegbu et al., 2021). Unable to degrade for thousands of years, the plastic pollution especially just continues to pile up, and will one day completely wreak havoc on the planet. To remediate a section of this plastic waste, alginate-based bandages are crucial to reducing bandage waste. Not only is this bandage biodegradable but has the potential to aid in reducing the detrimentally elevated increase in global temperature each year. Further, the improved absorbent pad will reduce bacterial infection caused by these polyethylene bandages, ultimately resulting in an effective wound dressing. Planarians have often been used as model organisms for a variety of reasons, mainly due to the low cost and abundance of them (Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez et al., 2017). With several of the same organ systems shared between humans and planarians, they both have a central nervous system with eyes, a brain, epidermis, and reproductive structures. The epidermis is the outermost layer of skin that is responsible for the protection of the body, fending off bacteria and any fluids that try to enter the body. Acting as a barrier, the epidermis is what is most often wounded when an individual is in need of a bandage. Epidermal wounding can span from paper cuts to wounds from hangnails, and are the most common type of wounds that a bandage would be necessary for.

Background Infographic

Procedure Infographic

Procedure



Figure 1

A depiction of the Young's Modulus extratced from the freeze-dried sample of 2% alginate with 1.5 grams of gelatin. After the compression tests were conducted for all the samples, the ones with gelatin proved to have higher weight thresholds, especially the ones with higher concentrations of gelatin.



Figure 2

A depiction of the Young's Modulus extratced from the freeze-dried sample of 3% alginate with 0.5 grams of silica. After the compression tests were conducted for all the samples, the ones with silca proved to have lower weight thresholds, observed by their smaller slopes.



Figure 3

A depiction of the incision length of the planaria from the experimental and control group, showing the decrease in size over a three day period. This table provides a breakdown of the day, size of the worm, and size of the incision after each day.


Figure 4

A depiction of the Young's Modulus extratced from the freeze-dried sample of 5% alginate with 0.5 grams of gelatin. After the compression tests were conducted for all the samples, the ones with gelatin proved to have higher weight thresholds, this sample having the highest weight threshold of all. This is observed by the highest slope of all the samples, indicating a stiffer material.

Analysis

Discussion/Conclusion

References

Fair Poster