could Someday be made of CBD

From the ACS Press Room Your Medical Implant or Food Wrapper could Someday be made of CBD

“Poly(cannabinoid)s: Hemp-Derived Biocompatible Thermoplastic Polyesters with Inherent Antioxidant Properties” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

With the legalization of hemp cultivation, products containing cannabidiol (CBD) have become popular. Many of these oils and creams claim to alleviate pain and other conditions, and now, new research reported in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces suggests that CBD could have another function: as a bioplastic. The research team created a CBD-based bioplastic material that could one day be used in medical implants, food wrappers and more. Cannabis (Cannabis sativa) is well known for the euphoric “high” it gives users, caused by a chemical called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Another component, CBD, is responsible for feelings of relaxation and calmness, but unlike THC, it doesn’t produce a high. In hemp plants bred to contain little-to-no THC, CBD can make up to 20% of the plant’s weight. Because it’s now federally legal in the U.S. to grow hemp, the price of CBD has dropped dramatically, opening up the possibility of using CBD in other applications. In recent years, the bioplastic called poly (lactic acid), or PLA, has become a popular option for sustainable plastics because it’s made from corn and sugarcane instead of fossil fuels, and can be industrially composted. Many single-use consumer goods, such as

This melt-processable CBD-based polymer looks and works like a typical piece of plastic, with a dash of antioxidant activity. Credit: Adapted from ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2022, DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c05556

utensils and soda bottles, as well as medical devices, such as facial fillers and implants, now contain PLA. Just as lactic acid is a good building block for PLA, CBD’s chemical structure also has the right stuff to be re-

Continued on page 14

Around the Area

UT Dallas

Robert A. Welch Chair in Chemistry, Dr. Vladimir Gevorgyan, gave a plenary talk, “New Heterocyclization and C–H Functionalization Methods” at the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis’ Drug Discovery Conference in Riga. Cecil H. and Ida Green Distinguished Chair in Systems Biology, Dr. Dean Sherry, was presented the Harry Fischer Medal for lifetime contributions to the development of MRI contrast agents at the Contrast Media Research symposium in Annapolis.

From the ACS Press Room Microneedle Patches that Restore Hair

Continued from page 5

Based on these results, the team prepared MnPS3 microneedle patches and treated androgenic alopecia-affected mouse models with them. Within 13 days, the animals regenerated thicker hair strands that more densely covered their previously bald backsides than mice treated with testosterone or minoxidil. The researchers say that their study both produced a nanozyme treatment for regenerating hair, and indicated the potential for computer-based methods for use in the design of future nanozyme therapeutics. The authors acknowledge funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province China.

Diagnose Alzheimer’s

Disease Early

Continued from page 6 older subjects without the impairment. According to the researchers, no wellestablished biomarkers that can diagnose MCI currently exist. Thus, p-tau198 and ptau217 could help clinicians intervene early, as new treatments become available, before significant neurological damage occurs. In addition, the researchers say this

From the ACS Press Room

Clear Window Coating

method could be used to find tau biomarkers with other modifications aside from phosphorylation. The authors acknowledge funding from the Biomarkers Across Neurodegenerative Diseases Program of the Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s Research UK, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, the Weston Brain Institute; Duke Clinical & Translational Science Institute; the National Institutes of Health; the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Alzheimer’s and Related Diseases Research Award Fund; Diabetes Action Research and Education Foundation; and the Duke/UNC Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. The authors have filed a provisional patent on the work. the new vaccine were exposed to live virus, however, they still developed an infection. In contrast, intranasal coadministration in hamsters produced a strong systemic immune response. It also cleared viruses from the respiratory tract and prevented infection-associated lung damage. Regardless of how the vaccine was administered, it provided protection against multiple variants, including omicron. Based on these results, the researchers are now recruiting participants for a Phase 1 clinical trial.

The authors acknowledge funding by the National Health Innovation Centre Gap Funding Award Singapore.

Intranasal COVID Vaccine

Continued from page 8

Continued from page 7

with conventional windows. They note their findings could be applied to other applications, since TRCs could also be used on car and truck windows. In addition, the group’s quantum computingenabled optimization technique could be used to design other types of composite materials. The authors acknowledge support from the National Research Foundation of Korea and the Notre Dame Center for Research Computing.

Mystery of What’s Coating Stradivari’s Violins

Continued from page 9

instruments contained protein-based compounds, congregating in nano-sized patches. Because IR s-SNOM provided a detailed 3D picture of the types of substances on the violin’s surface, the researchers say that it could be used in future studies to identify compounds in complex multi-layer cultural heritage samples. The authors acknowledge CERIC-ERIC and Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste for access to experimental facilities and financial support.

From the ACS Press Room Why Plastics Turn Yellow

Continued from page 10

films. The team concluded that chiral chemical structures on the surfaces of the polyethylene films are formed during exposure to UV light and are a potential cause for the yellow color of old plastics. They say that these insights could help researchers design plastic products that last longer before becoming unsightly or unusable. The authors acknowledge funding from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, the University of Minnesota McKnight Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

peated as a polymer. So, Gregory Sotzing, Lakshmi Nair and colleagues wanted to see whether CBD could be used to make a new bioplastic.

To create cannabinoid polymers, the researchers performed a condensation reaction with adipoyl chloride — also used to create nylon — and either CBD or the closely-related cannabigerol (CBG), producing a polyester. Polymeric CBD had a broad melting temperature range and stretchability, and to show its ability to function as a plastic, the researchers formed it into a hemp leaf shape with a mold. Because bioplastics are often used in medical contexts, they also investigated the polymers’ bioactive properties. Neither CBD nor CBG polyesters was cytotoxic. Unlike the conventional bioplastic PLA, the CBD polyester had an antioxidant activity. Although the polymer version of CBD didn’t confer the same therapeutic effects as it does in oil form, Sotzing says that future versions of the plastic could be engineered to have anti-inflammatory and painrelieving properties, and this is the goal of his start-up company Polycannabinoid Therapeutics Rx.

Your Medical Implant or Food Wrapper could Someday be made of CBD

Continued from page 11

The authors acknowledge funding from the National Institutes of Health for the biological aspects of this work.