A unique gel that can be used to soak up oil pollution, transport medicines in the body, and even grow new skin cells is being patented by researchers at the University of Bradford’s School of Pharmacy in the U.K.
Developed by Dr. Donald Eagland and Dr. Nicholas Crowther, the gel is expected to have environmental, medical and industrial benefits. It consists almost entirely of water and yet can thicken to produce a substance that is 100 to 1,000 times stronger than any other gel of its kind. This thickening property is due to the presence of two long, elastic-like molecules. The molecules form strong bonds with each other, that are similar to a cage that has the ability to hold in water.
The gel’s applications are outlined below:
– It can be sprayed, in liquid form, on to oil or cyanide spillage and then, as it thickens, be rolled up like a carpet.
– Owing to its staying power, it can act as a long-lasting drug transporter.
– The gel can be injected into arthritic joints, along with substances such as collagen.
Now Eagland and Crowther, along with Dr. Steven Britland, also of the School of Pharmacy, are working on a project to use the gel to grow skin cells. The new skin would be placed next to a wound, with the gel above it forming a protective barrier that could receive antibiotics.
— The preceding is from International Mining and Minerals, published by the U.K.-based Institution of Mining and Metallurgy.
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