We are a group of scientists from the University of Milan dedicated to research on polymers, both basic and applied, to teaching and scientific communication in its broadest terms. We aim to extend the scope of our scientific communication to both science professionals and society at large. Here we begin to introduce ourselves to those who do not yet know us. Furthermore, we would like to mention the colleagues and friends, who have supported since the beginning the Milan Polymer Days initiative, either as members of the scientific committee or members of the award committees or as representatives of the Italian Society of Chemistry or the National Research Council, without forgetting our smart Ph.D. students who helped us organize the congress and bring it to a successful conclusion.

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The congresses of the Milan Polymer Days are open to contributions in all sectors of polymer science and technology. This year the Scientific Committee has accepted scientific communications in the following fields:

- Bioactive polymers, nanomedicine
- Chiral polymers
- Crystallization of polymers 
- Molecular modeling of biopolymers 
- Nanocomposites
- Polymer and the environment: green chemistry, synthesis of polymers from renewable sources; microplastics
- Polymeric biomaterials
- Polymers in nanomedicine
- Polymeric flame retardants
- Polymer processing
- Synthesis of complex macromolecular architectures

After two years of pandemic restrictions and two virtual MIPOL editions, it was finally possible to conduct the MIPOL2022 congress in a hybrid form. All oral sessions have been indeed held in presence but could also be followed in live streaming. Moreover, the poster session was conducted remotely via the MS-TEAMS platform. In this way, participants who tested positive for the COVID-19 infection were also able to participate in the congress. 
As in previous editions, several sponsors helped to make MIPOL2022 a reality. 

Around 100 attendees from 10 nations participated in the event, including, in addition to Italy, France, Germany, Greece, India, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United States of America. That many attendees from many different countries joined us in this exciting experience proved how attractive is the research in polymer science and technology. 
The congress totalized 36 oral scientific presentations, of which 4 keynotes, 14 invited lectures, 18 short oral communications, and 34 poster communications. 
The keynote lectures were held by prominent personalities in the international panorama of polymer science, namely:
- Professor Dimitris Bikiaris, Aristotle University of Tessaloniki, Greece 
“*Microplastics in the environment: formation mechanism and their effect to living organisms*”;
- Doctor Colin Bonduelle, Université de Bordeaux/CNRS, France
“*Polypeptides from novel approaches to unconventional self-assembly*”;
- Professor Luigi Cavallo, King Abdullah University of Technology and University of Salerno
“*The mechanics behind polymerizations for a greener sustainable future*”;
- Professor Jacques Desbrieres, University of Pau, France
“*Amphiphilic polysaccharides and stabilization of concentrated oil-in-water emulsions*”.

Ample space was dedicated to Young Scientists, to whom a competition was dedicated for the prize for the best poster communication. The award committee included seven distinguished polymer scientists, namely:
- Professor Alessandra Bossi, University of Verona, Italy 
- Professor Francesco Cellesi, Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy
- Professor Paweł Chmielarz, Rzeszow University of Technology, Poland
- Professor Andrea Dorigato, University of Trento, Italy
- Doctor Nébéwia Griffete, Sorbonne University, France
- Professor Nicolò Mauro, University of Palermo, Italy
- Professor Nicola Tirelli, Italian Institute of Technology, Genoa, Italy

The evaluation criteria included a combination of research and presentation quality. The competition attracted 28 participants. At the end of the congress, the winners of the competition for the five best communication posters were celebrated. Their names are: 
- Rony Aad, aspiring PhD candidate at the University of Milan (I), for a presentation with title “*Use of calcium chloride to enhance the efficacy of polyamidoamines as flame-retardants for cotton*”; 
- Giulia Coradello, PhD candidate at the Italian Institute of Technology, Genoa (I), for a presentation with title “*Colloidal systems of sulfur(II)-based copolymers for anti-inflammatory therapies*”;
- Laura Simonini, PhD candidate at the University of Trento (I), for a presentation with title “*Colloidal systems of sulfur(II)-based copolymers for anti-inflammatory therapies*”; 
- Edoardo Testa, PhD candidate at the Polytechnic University of Milan (I), for a presentation with title “*Polypeptides from Hermetia illucens: a bio-source for innovative materials in the framework of a circular economy model*”; 
- Sofia Treccani, aspiring PhD candidate at the University of Milan (I), for a presentation with title “*β-Cyclodextrin α,ω-end-functionalized oligomeric polyamidoamines as water soluble curcumin carriers*”.

Significant efforts were devoted to the dissemination of the congress contents through the timely and systematic use of the [Facebook platform](https://www.facebook.com/MIPOL2020).

At the end of the congress, the congress chair, Professor Elisabetta Ranucci, thanked all participants, all chairs, the members of organizing committee, and announced that next edition of the Milan Polymer Days congress, MIPOL2023, **will be held from 7 to 9 June 2023 at the University of Milan**. 

The 6th edition of the Milan Polymer Days congress, MIPOL2022, took place from 19 to 21 June 2022 at the Auditorium of the University of Milan. MIPOL2022 has been organized by the Department of Chemistry under the auspices of the Italian Chemical Society, the National Consortium for Materials Science and Technology and the University of Milan. 

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Milan Polymer Days 2022

Il Comitato Promotore del Premio di Laurea Mario Malinconico è lieto di annunciare che **[Filippo Maggi](https://www.milanpolymerdays.org/users/filippo-maggi)**, laureato in Industrial Chemistry presso l’Università degli Studi di Milano in data 7 maggio 2022 con votazione 110/110 con lode, discutendo una tesi dal titolo “*Nanocomposite hydrogels as scaffolds for tissue engineering*” è risultato vincitore del premio.

Il concorso, nato per incentivare gli studenti con curriculum attinente alla scienza dei polimeri, ha preso in considerazione tesi discusse in università italiane nel periodo 01.03.2020 - 13.04.2022, al termine di corsi di laurea magistrale.

La commissione valutatrice, composta dal Prof. Guido Raos, Politecnico di Milano, Prof.ssa Claudia Bianchi, Università Statale di Milano, Dr.ssa Maria Laura Di Lorenzo, Istituto per i Polimeri, Compositi e Biomateriali del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, ha decretato il nome del vincitore dopo aver valutato 43 tesi di laurea e curricula provenienti da 20 diverse università italiane e intervistato i 10 migliori candidati. La valutazione è stata basata sugli elaborati, di cui sono stati considerati il rigore metodologico, l’originalità, l’attinenza all’argomento del concorso; sul curriculum dei candidati; sulla conoscenza dell’argomento di tesi e il contributo personale alla ricerca ed il pensiero critico dimostrato dai candidati nel corso del colloquio con la commissione.

A conclusione dei lavori, la commissione si è dichiarata molto soddisfatta per la qualità dei lavori presentati e la maturità espressa dai giovani laureati nel colloquio finale.
Il vincitore del concorso riceverà un premio di € 500 e presenterà con una comunicazione orale il proprio lavoro al congresso internazionale Milan Polymer Days, che avrà luogo presso l’Aula Magna della Statale di Milano nei giorni 19-21 giugno 2022.

A Filippo Maggi vanno i migliori auguri e complimenti da parte di tutti noi. Agli altri candidati vanno l’apprezzamento della commissione e l’augurio di riuscire a dare sempre il meglio di sé nella vita personale e nel lavoro.


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Il vincitore del Premio Malinconico 2022 è Filippo Maggi

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I am a faithful defender that food contributes enormously to making us look more handsome, healthy and physically better and the great number of food-heathy products in supermarket makes me think I am not wrong with this idea. However, several times is difficult to introduce or stabilize a bioactive compound in the desirable concentration in the food matrix. For this reason, the food industry uses a range of stabilizers and carriers which let the desire concentration desired. Among these additives, today we will speak about Cyclodextrins (CDs), a torus-shaped oligosaccharides made up of α-(1,4) linked glucose units, the most common CDs being α, β and γ-CD, which contain six, seven and eight glucose units, respectively, are called E457, E459 and E458 respectively. The applications with this commonly used carrier are significant and considerable. They usually improve bioactive compound’s characteristics such as its solubility, stability or the controlled release. Or are used to remove unpleasant flavors or odors [1]. 

The intrinsic properties of these additives are sometimes not enough depending on the application so, inevitably, different research groups are working for years to improve the food additive. That is why our research group have published an exhaustive revision of CD-based polymers in food-related applications [2].

Firstly we found an extensive literature about different derivatives that we have organized the possible CD derivatives in the following families.

![Representations of most common CD based polymers and materials.png](https://res.cloudinary.com/milan-polymer-days/image/upload/v1653153977/Representations_of_most_common_CD_based_polymers_and_materials_132215680a.png)

**Figure 1**. Representations of most common CD based polymers and materials

The division showed three general groups, one characterized by the absence/presence of covalent bonds between CDs and an external polymer (a-g), the second with covalent bonds between each CDs with linkers (such as, for example, for crosslinked CD polymers, h-i), and finally the CD loaded inside a polymer. Concerning the polymerization of CDs, the first approach is usually a direct polycondensation of CD units with other multifunctional agents such as epoxides, polyesterifications with carboxylic acids or related derivatives, formation of polyurethane with isocyanates, and nucleophilic substitution with halogenated-aromatic compounds. 

After this classification, we checked the most promising applications against different problems, which was discussed completely in the review: 

![Representation of the most representative current applications.png](https://res.cloudinary.com/milan-polymer-days/image/upload/v1653154135/Representation_of_the_most_representative_current_applications_53fd45f386.png)

**Figure 2**. Representation of the most representative current applications

We could cite the possibility to remove cholesterol of high-fat products. In this case different polymers had been proposed, although the most used strategy is the direct addition of β-CD. In the case of removing contaminants and toxins the polymers present great applicability due to its capacity of recovery and recycling. Different organic contaminants or heavy metals were able to be complexed and removed from the food matrix. An interesting study was carried out with the tryptophan naturally transformed toxin “indole”, which was removing after adding the polymer called “Nanosponges” orally. In order to purify bioactive compounds, the strategy to generate magnetic derivatives was reported with great adsorption and recycling due to the easiness for matrix separation.

The importance of CDs polymers in smart packaging is highly correlated to its capacity to complex antimicrobial whether bioactive compounds such as genaniol or  quercetin or antibiotics. However, to use in food matrixes the tendency is to complex bioactive compound. Generally, the improved release of the antimicrobial increased the durability of the conserved food. Finally, the quiral detection and sensor capacities of CDs polymers are focused on the detection of contaminants such as bisphenol-A or different fluorescent compounds, but without an application in some food matrix reported.

To sum up, the review underlines the necessity to better check the toxicity of these derivatives to get the approval of the institutions (FDA, EFSA), which will increase the impact of these polymers. Nevertheless, and as this review shows, there are many research groups trying to generate new materials in view of a future application and more and more are taking care of necessary aspects such as the toxicity and composition of their derivatives. The continuous research in the field and the cost reduction of this technology are de-creasing are good steps to increase certainly their presence in the following years.

### REFERENCES:

[1] Cravotto, G., Binello, A., Baranelli, E., Carraro, P., & Trotta, F. (2006). Cyclodextrins as food additives and in food processing. Current Nutrition & Food Science, 2(4), 343-350.

[2] Matencio, A., Rubin Pedrazzo, A., Difalco, A., Navarro-Orcajada, S., Khazeai Monfared, Y., Conesa, I., ... & Trotta, F. (2021). Advances and Classification of Cyclodextrin-Based Polymers for Food-Related Issues. Polymers, 13(23), 4226.


Dip. Di Chimica, Università di Torino, via P. Giuria 7, 10125,Torino, Italy

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Cyclodextrin based polymers for food related applications

Nicola Tirelli earned a master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Pisa, where she obtained a doctorate in industrial chemistry. He worked at the Polytechnic University (ETH) of Zurich for eight years first as a guest student, then as a postdoc and finally Oberassistent (researcher), then moved (2003) to the University of Manchester, where as Senior Lecturer and then Professor (2005) was a member of the Schools of Pharmacy and Materials Science, leading the NorthWest Center for Advanceed Drug Delivery and the Center for Doctoral Training in Regenerative Medicine in recent years. Since 2017 Nicola Tirelli has been part of the Italian Institute of Technology, where he leads the Polymers and Biomaterials Laboratory in the Genoa office.

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Our muscles – be them voluntary such as our skeletal muscles, or involuntary such as those lining our blood vessels – contract, and relax, all the time. These are reversible, cell-mediated processes; when a contracted muscle does not revert to its relaxed state, e.g. because excessively frequent stimulation by motor neurons, pathological situations arise, for example cramps (physiological tetanus).
In our bodies, we also experience a second form of cell-mediated contraction, which is both (much) slower and irreversible. This happens e.g. when a scar matures (becoming smaller but harder) or when a foreign body is encapsulated in a fibrotic tissue (think at breast implants). In order to differentiate this from the rapid and reversible contraction of muscles, these slower and irreversible processes are referred to as contractures. 

Although necessary to firmly close a wound, contractures are not exactly welcome. If cells (typically fibroblasts; or a related, more contractile phenotype called myofibroblasts) contract a matrix, they do not only change its dimensions; the construct becomes denser and thus harder, and mobility and overall survival of cells within may be an issue, partially because of physical hindrance, partially because of the lower diffusion of nutrients and oxygen. In anti-scarring therapies, or in tissue engineering/regenerative medicine, it would be beneficial to develop conditions that minimize contracture; in vitro tests that can accurately predict contracture behaviour are therefore useful.  

However, there may be more one kind of contracture. 

In a [recent paper from our group](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0928493122000212?via%3Dihub), we have reflected that the contracture of a wound (cells contracting it from within; 3D contracture) and the formation of a contracted fibrotic tissue around an implant (cells contracting the interface with the material; 2D contracture) may be geometrically and probably also functionally different processes. In this study, we have developed model systems for both the 2D and 3D contracture. We employed fibrin with variable modulus (Figure 1A), axially anchoring them (Figure 1B) and seeding cells within or on the top of them (Figure 1C). Cells contracted these matrices by pulling fibrils (Figure 2), and the speed of contracture [was always inversely proportional to their stiffness](https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0928493122000212-mmc2.mp4) and directly proportional to the presence of fibrotic agents [such as TGF-b1](https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0928493122000212-mmc3.mp4); however, while cells seeded inside shrank fibrin in a 3D contracture, those on the surface bent the materials without migrating into them, in a form of 2D contracture. The two processes were not only geometrically, but also functionally different: for example, fibroblasts were more likely to differentiate into myofibroblasts in 3D contracture, but they oriented along the contracture axis much more in 2D contracture. 

Finally, we have demonstrated that dystrophic muscle cells have a propensity to 3D (but not 2D) contracture, similar to fibroblasts but different from healthy or genetically corrected muscle cells, which may at least partially explain the fibrotic evolution of muscle in Duchenne’s dystrophy.

![Schermata 2022-05-09 alle 18.58.37.png](https://res.cloudinary.com/milan-polymer-days/image/upload/v1652115579/Schermata_2022_05_09_alle_18_58_37_343e449d65.png)

**Figure 1**. A. Young’s and storage shear modulus of fibrin with different concentrations. B. Scheme of how fibrin constructs are axially anchored. C. Pictorial explanation of the different contracture modes following 2D (on the top) and 3D (within fibrin) cell seeding in axially anchored fibrin matrices.

![Schermata 2022-05-09 alle 19.00.04.png](https://res.cloudinary.com/milan-polymer-days/image/upload/v1652115630/Schermata_2022_05_09_alle_19_00_04_8e217a2ee4.png)

**Figure 2**. SEM pictures of fibroblasts pulling fibrin fibrillar networks

![Schermata 2022-05-09 alle 19.00.51.png](https://res.cloudinary.com/milan-polymer-days/image/upload/v1652115681/Schermata_2022_05_09_alle_19_00_51_a99e2237f4.png)

**Figure 3**. the reduction of cross-sectional area with time is a measure of contracture kinetics. Fibrin 3D-seeded with dystrophic myoblasts (DYS) contract with a kinetics similar to that of 3D-seeded fibroblasts (HDFa), significantly more rapid than healthy (WT) or genetically corrected dystrophic myoblasts (DYS-CORR).

Whether we consciously realize it or not, we are all familiar with biological contraction phenomena.

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Cells contracting materials

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Jun 25th 22

Milan Polymer Days 2022

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May 26th 22

Il vincitore del Premio Malinconico 2022 è Filippo Maggi

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May 21st 22

Cyclodextrin based polymers for food related applications

Adrián Matencio

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Cells contracting materials

Nicola Tirelli

Jun 25th 22

Milan Polymer Days 2022

Mipol Group

May 26th 22

Il vincitore del Premio Malinconico 2022 è Filippo Maggi

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May 21st 22

Cyclodextrin based polymers for food related applications

Adrián Matencio

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