@article{lemieux_touati_sawyer_aslett_serre_pourdeyhimi_grondin_mcarthur_abdel-hady_monge_2024, title={Use of semi-permeable bag materials to facilitate on-site treatment of biological agent-contaminated waste}, volume={178}, ISSN={["1879-2456"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2024.02.006}, DOI={10.1016/j.wasman.2024.02.006}, abstractNote={Clean up following the wide-area release of a persistent biological agent has the potential to generate significant waste. Waste containing residual levels of biological contaminants may require off-site shipment under the U.S. Department of Transportation's (US DOT) solid waste regulations for Category A infectious agents, which has packaging and size limitations that do not accommodate large quantities. Treating the waste on-site to inactivate the bio-contaminants could alleviate the need for Category A shipping and open the possibility for categorizing the waste as conventional solid waste with similar shipping requirements as municipal garbage. To collect and package waste for on-site treatment, a semi-permeable nonwoven-based fabric was developed. The fabric was designed to contain residual bio-contaminants while providing sufficient permeability for penetration by a gaseous decontamination agent. The nonwoven fabric was tested in two bench-scale experiments. First, decontamination efficacy and gas permeability were evaluated by placing test coupons inoculated with spores of a Bacillus anthracis surrogate inside the nonwoven material. After chlorine dioxide fumigation, the coupons were analyzed for spore viability and results showed a ≥6 Log reduction on all test materials except glass. Second, filters cut from the nonwoven material were tested in parallel with commercially available cellulose acetate filters having a known pore size (0.45 μm) and results demonstrate that the two materials have similar permeability characteristics. Overall, results suggest that the nonwoven material could be used to package waste at the point of generation and then moved to a nearby staging area where it could be fumigated to inactivate bio-contaminants.}, journal={WASTE MANAGEMENT}, author={Lemieux, Paul and Touati, Abderrahmane and Sawyer, Jonathan and Aslett, Denise and Serre, Shannon and Pourdeyhimi, Behnam and Grondin, Pierre and McArthur, Timothy and Abdel-Hady, Ahmed and Monge, Mariela}, year={2024}, month={Apr}, pages={292–300} }
 @article{schuchard_joijode_willard_anderson_grondin_pourdeyhimi_shirwaiker_2021, title={Fabrication of drug-loaded ultrafine polymer fibers via solution blowing and their drug release kinetics}, volume={53}, ISSN={["2351-9789"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.promfg.2021.06.017}, abstractNote={Biocompatible polymer fibers have garnered significant interest due to their unique properties. Applications range from absorbent media to tissue engineering and drug delivery products. Many manufacturing processes produce such fibers, but a gap exists in highly scalable processes for fibers loaded with thermolabile additives like pharmaceuticals. This study investigates preliminary process-structure-function relationships of solution blown poly(ethylene oxide) fibers loaded with doxycycline, a drug that has demonstrated antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumoral properties. After parameter screening, a factorial experiment mapped the solution blowing design space with a multi-nozzle apparatus. A 1 mm-thick mat was fabricated comprising doxycycline loaded polymer fibers with a mean diameter of 552 ± 200 nm. Study of release kinetics showed the doxycycline released with a significant burst effect over approximately 1 minute. This study highlights solution blowing as a scalable manufacturing platform for fabricating poly(ethylene oxide) fibers loaded with this impactful drug.}, journal={49TH SME NORTH AMERICAN MANUFACTURING RESEARCH CONFERENCE (NAMRC 49, 2021)}, author={Schuchard, Karl and Joijode, Abhay and Willard, Vincent P. and Anderson, Bruce and Grondin, Pierre and Pourdeyhimi, Behnam and Shirwaiker, Rohan}, year={2021}, pages={128–135} }
 @article{ma_wisuthiphaet_bolt_nitin_zhao_wang_pourdeyhimi_grondin_sun_2021, title={N-Halamine Polypropylene Nonwoven Fabrics with Rechargeable Antibacterial and Antiviral Functions for Medical Applications}, volume={7}, ISSN={["2373-9878"]}, DOI={10.1021/acsbiomaterials.1c00117}, abstractNote={Embedding medical and hygiene products with regenerable antimicrobial functions would have significant implications for limiting pathogen contaminations and reducing healthcare-associated infections. Herein, we demonstrate a scalable and industrially feasible methodology to fabricate chlorine rechargeable melt-blown polypropylene (PP) nonwoven fabrics, which have been widely used in hygienic and personal protective products, via a combination of a melt reactive extrusion process and melt-blown technique. Methacrylamide (MAM) was employed as a precursor of halamine monomers and covalently grafted onto the PP backbone to form polypropylene-grafted methacrylamide (PP-g-MAM), which could be chlorinated, yielding biocidal acyclic halamines. Subsequently, the resultant PP-g-MAM was manufactured into nonwoven fabrics with varying fiber diameters by adjusting the hot air flowing speed during the melt-blowing process. The chlorinated nonwoven fabrics (PP-g-MAM-Cl) exhibited integrated properties such as a robust mechanical property, good thermal stability, high chlorination capability (>850 ppm), and desirable chlorine rechargeability. More importantly, such chlorinated nonwoven fabrics showed a promising antibacterial and antiviral efficiency, achieving 6 log CFU reduction of bacteria (both Escherichia coli O157: H7 and Listeria innocua) and 7 log PFU reductions of a virus (T7 bacteriophages) within 15 and 5 min of contact, respectively, revealing great potential to serve as a reusable antimicrobial material for medical protection applications.}, number={6}, journal={ACS BIOMATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING}, author={Ma, Yue and Wisuthiphaet, Nicharee and Bolt, Hunter and Nitin, Nitin and Zhao, Qinghua and Wang, Dong and Pourdeyhimi, Behnam and Grondin, Pierre and Sun, Gang}, year={2021}, month={Jun}, pages={2329–2336} }
 @article{shirwaiker_fisher_anderson_schuchard_warren_maze_grondin_ligler_pourdeyhimi_2020, title={High-Throughput Manufacture of 3D Fiber Scaffolds for Regenerative Medicine}, volume={26}, ISSN={["1937-3392"]}, DOI={10.1089/ten.tec.2020.0098}, abstractNote={Engineered scaffolds used to regenerate mammalian tissues should recapitulate the underlying fibrous architecture of native tissue to achieve comparable function. Current fibrous scaffold fabrication processes, such as electrospinning and three-dimensional (3D) printing, possess application-specific advantages, but they are limited either by achievable fiber sizes and pore resolution, processing efficiency, or architectural control in three dimensions. As such, a gap exists in efficiently producing clinically relevant, anatomically sized scaffolds comprising fibers in the 1–100 μm range that are highly organized. This study introduces a new high-throughput, additive fibrous scaffold fabrication process, designated in this study as 3D melt blowing (3DMB). The 3DMB system described in this study is modified from larger nonwovens manufacturing machinery to accommodate the lower volume, high-cost polymers used for tissue engineering and implantable biomedical devices and has a fiber collection component that uses adaptable robotics to create scaffolds with predetermined geometries. The fundamental process principles, system design, and key parameters are described, and two examples of the capabilities to create scaffolds for biomedical engineering applications are demonstrated. Impact statement Three-dimensional melt blowing (3DMB) is a new, high-throughput, additive manufacturing process to produce scaffolds composed of highly organized fibers in the anatomically relevant 1–100 μm range. Unlike conventional melt-blowing systems, the 3DMB process is configured for efficient use with the relatively expensive polymers necessary for biomedical applications, decreasing the required amounts of material for processing while achieving high throughputs compared with 3D printing or electrospinning. The 3DMB is demonstrated to make scaffolds composed of multiple fiber materials and organized into complex shapes, including those typical of human body parts.}, number={7}, journal={TISSUE ENGINEERING PART C-METHODS}, author={Shirwaiker, Rohan A. and Fisher, Matthew B. and Anderson, Bruce and Schuchard, Karl G. and Warren, Paul B. and Maze, Benoit and Grondin, Pierre and Ligler, Frances S. and Pourdeyhimi, Behnam}, year={2020}, month={Jul}, pages={364–374} }