Polymer-based hydrogels are hydrophilic polymer networks with crosslinks widely applied for drug delivery applications because of their ability to hold large amounts of water and biological fluids and control drug release based on their unique physicochemical properties and biocompatibility. Current trends in the development of hydrogel drug delivery systems involve the release of drugs in response to specific triggers such as pH, temperature, or enzymes for targeted drug delivery and to reduce the potential for systemic toxicity. In addition, developing injectable hydrogel formulations that are easily used and sustain drug release during this extended time is a growing interest. Another emerging trend in hydrogel drug delivery is the synthesis of nano hydrogels and other functional substances for improving targeted drug loading and release efficacy. Following these development trends, advanced hydrogels possessing mechanically improved properties, controlled release rates, and biocompatibility is developing as a focus of the field. More complex drug delivery systems such as multi-drug delivery and combination therapies will be developed based on these advancements. In addition, polymer-based hydrogels are gaining increasing attention in personalized medicine because of their ability to be tailored to a specific patient, for example, drug release rates, drug combinations, target-specific drug delivery, improvement of disease treatment effectiveness, and healthcare cost reduction. Overall, hydrogel application is advancing rapidly, towards more efficient and effective drug delivery systems in the future.

Activated carbon produced from agricultural products and wastes has been applied widely to remove pollutants in the field of waste water treatment.

In this research, ZnO/GO nanocomposites were successfully synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method using graphene oxide (GO) and zinc acetate dihydrate (Zn(CH₃COO)₂.2H₂O) as the reactants. The effect of the hydrothermal reaction time on the structure and optical property of the ZnO/GO was systematically investigated. The structure, morphology and chemical composition of the samples were measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Raman and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, while the optical properties were measured using photoluminescence spectroscopy. The synthesized products consisted of large quantities of one-dimensional (1D) ZnO nanorods (NRs), which were dispersed uniformly on the GO surface. The XRD and Raman results reveal that the ZnO NRs in the fabricated samples had a hexagonal wurtzite structure with high crystalline quality. The FESEM and TEM images reveal that ZnO NRs with an average diameter in the range of ~85–270 nm and length in the range of ~0.3–6 μm were covered with GO sheets. Additionally, it was found that the crystallographic orientation of ZnO NRs was dependent not only on the hydrothermal reaction time but also on the presence of GO in the nanocomposites. However, the addition of GO did not affect the stoichiometric ratio and the crystal structure of ZnO NRs. The room-temperature PL results indicated that, compared to those of pure ZnO, the luminescence of the GO/ZnO nanocomposites was suppressed and shifted towards a higher wavelength (red shift), which was attributed to the incorporation of ZnO NRs within the GO matrix and the formation of a C-O-Zn chemical bond in the nanocomposites. The hydrothermal technique is considered one of the best routes due to its low cost, high growth rates, low-temperature synthesis, controllable crystallographic orientation, particle size, as well as morphology.

This paper illustrates a special investigation on geopolymer concrete synthesized from fly ash, sand, coarse aggregates (solid phases) in conditions of sodium silicate solution and seawater (liquid phases). The mixtures of geopolymer concrete were designed with proportion changes of among materials to evaluate effects of the proportions to engineering properties of products. The specimens were molded into cylinder with 200 mm in length and 100 mm in diameter, and then cured at room condition (28 °C, 80 % of humidity) for testing engineering properties for 7 days, 28 days, 90 days, and 180 days. The engineering properties of geopolymer concrete samples included compressive strength (MPa), water absorption (kg/m³), and volumetric weight (kg/m³). The results showed that the fly ash-based geopolymer concrete using sodium silicate solution and seawater was very good performance with value of 180 day-compressive strength at 58 MPa, water absorption and volumetric weight were at 180 kg/m³ and 2200 kg/m³, respectively.