Editorial Polymers from Biomass: Characterization...
3
Editorial Polymers from Biomass: Characterization, Modification, Degradation, and Applications Mukund Adsul, 1 Deepak K. Tuli, 1 Pratheep K. Annamalai, 2 Dilip Depan, 3 and Shiv Shankar 4 1 DBT-IOC Centre for Advanced Bioenergy Research, Indian Oil R&D Center, Sector 13, Faridabad 121007, India 2 Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, e University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia 3 Chemical Engineering Department, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA 70504, USA 4 Department of Food Engineering, Mokpo National University, Jeonnam 534-729, Republic of Korea Correspondence should be addressed to Mukund Adsul; [email protected] Received 23 February 2016; Accepted 23 February 2016 Copyright © 2016 Mukund Adsul et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Polymers from biomass are of prime concern and are the cornerstone in terms of various applications such as biofuels, biomedical, and biocomposite applications. Recently, con- cerns on the environmental pollution and exhaust of natural resources caused by the nonbiodegradable petroleum-based plastics materials have attracted attention on the development of environmentally benign polymers for their applications in various industries and other value added utilities. Renewable and abundantly available biopolymers are the most viable alternative for the production of green materials in the near future. In order to secure the sustainable development for exponentially growing population, the increasing demands for the light-weighted high performance materials and grow- ing concerns over environmental impact of the materials have compelled academic and industrial researchers to develop new materials from alternative or renewable resources. Renewability of resources depends on the availability and life cycle of the raw materials. In recent decades, polymeric materials from renewable biological resources such as plants, marine animals, and microbial organisms have increasingly gained the attention of researchers. e polymers which are derived/extracted from the most widely available biological renewable resources (agricultural plants, marine animals, and microorganisms) are called “biopolymers.” ese polymers are produced as biomass or byproduct during the growth cycles of organisms. Biopolymers or renewable polymers such as cellulose, lignin, starch, pectin, chitin, and xylan are the abundantly available polymers in nature in the form of plant biomass or other biological sources. eir importance for var- ious applications (biofuels, nanobiocomposites, biomedical, etc.) has been analyzed for many years and still continued. ere are different ways to convert these biopolymers into various chemicals, fuels, and materials for the benefit of our society. Still there are challenges to develop new method- ologies or improved processes for efficient and economic utilization as well as conversion of these biopolymers. At present few polysaccharides such as cellulose, starch, and xylan have tremendous applications in various fields such as nanoscience, biorefineries, and composites materials. Some biopolymers are yet to be exploited more such as lignin. eir separation, degradation, and aromatic nature make them more complicated but still have importance. Almost all biopolymers are degraded by microorganism by producing enzymes. ey can be also degraded by chemical catalysts (e.g., solid acids) to make sugars. Recently researchers succeeded in preparing the nanoparticles of biopolymers such as cellulose and chitin, which increases their scope in nanosciences. Biological or chemical degradation of biopoly- mers into their simple forms (e.g., sugars) makes them applicable in biological fermentation for production of value added chemicals or fuels. ese biopolymers also have medi- cal applications such as drug delivery and tissue engineering. Biopolymers have great potential in the growing com- mercial plastics market with the global production capacity Hindawi Publishing Corporation International Journal of Polymer Science Volume 2016, Article ID 1857297, 2 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/1857297
Transcript of Editorial Polymers from Biomass: Characterization...
EditorialPolymers from Biomass: Characterization, Modification,Degradation, and Applications
Mukund Adsul,1 Deepak K. Tuli,1 Pratheep K. Annamalai,2
Dilip Depan,3 and Shiv Shankar4
1DBT-IOC Centre for Advanced Bioenergy Research, Indian Oil R&D Center, Sector 13, Faridabad 121007, India2Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia3Chemical Engineering Department, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA 70504, USA4Department of Food Engineering, Mokpo National University, Jeonnam 534-729, Republic of Korea
Correspondence should be addressed to Mukund Adsul; [email protected]
Received 23 February 2016; Accepted 23 February 2016
Copyright © 2016 Mukund Adsul et al.This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Polymers from biomass are of prime concern and are thecornerstone in terms of various applications such as biofuels,biomedical, and biocomposite applications. Recently, con-cerns on the environmental pollution and exhaust of naturalresources caused by the nonbiodegradable petroleum-basedplasticsmaterials have attracted attention on the developmentof environmentally benign polymers for their applications invarious industries and other value added utilities. Renewableand abundantly available biopolymers are the most viablealternative for the production of green materials in the nearfuture. In order to secure the sustainable development forexponentially growing population, the increasing demandsfor the light-weighted high performance materials and grow-ing concerns over environmental impact of thematerials havecompelled academic and industrial researchers to developnew materials from alternative or renewable resources.Renewability of resources depends on the availability andlife cycle of the raw materials. In recent decades, polymericmaterials from renewable biological resources such as plants,marine animals, and microbial organisms have increasinglygained the attention of researchers. The polymers which arederived/extracted from the most widely available biologicalrenewable resources (agricultural plants,marine animals, andmicroorganisms) are called “biopolymers.” These polymersare produced as biomass or byproduct during the growthcycles of organisms. Biopolymers or renewable polymers suchas cellulose, lignin, starch, pectin, chitin, and xylan are the
abundantly available polymers in nature in the form of plantbiomass or other biological sources.Their importance for var-ious applications (biofuels, nanobiocomposites, biomedical,etc.) has been analyzed for many years and still continued.There are different ways to convert these biopolymers intovarious chemicals, fuels, and materials for the benefit of oursociety. Still there are challenges to develop new method-ologies or improved processes for efficient and economicutilization as well as conversion of these biopolymers.
At present few polysaccharides such as cellulose, starch,and xylan have tremendous applications in various fieldssuch as nanoscience, biorefineries, and composites materials.Some biopolymers are yet to be exploitedmore such as lignin.Their separation, degradation, and aromatic nature makethemmore complicated but still have importance. Almost allbiopolymers are degraded by microorganism by producingenzymes. They can be also degraded by chemical catalysts(e.g., solid acids) to make sugars. Recently researcherssucceeded in preparing the nanoparticles of biopolymerssuch as cellulose and chitin, which increases their scope innanosciences. Biological or chemical degradation of biopoly-mers into their simple forms (e.g., sugars) makes themapplicable in biological fermentation for production of valueadded chemicals or fuels. These biopolymers also have medi-cal applications such as drug delivery and tissue engineering.
Biopolymers have great potential in the growing com-mercial plastics market with the global production capacity
Hindawi Publishing CorporationInternational Journal of Polymer ScienceVolume 2016, Article ID 1857297, 2 pageshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/1857297
2 International Journal of Polymer Science
of bioplastics at about 1,161 metric tons in 2011, and this hasbeen expected to increase up to 5,779 metric tons by 2016, asindicated by recent market survey.They are regarded as envi-ronmentally friendly materials not only due to their sourcebut also due to their inherent biodegradability in many cases.There is also a significant portion of polymers produced frombiological resources that are not biologically “degradable”according to the internationally accepted standards. In orderto translate these biopolymers into real applications, thereappear to be significant obstacles including poor processabil-ity, poor properties (mechanical properties, thermal stability,water absorption, and barrier properties), and performancein comparison to their synthetic counter parts. These obsta-cles have motivated many research activities in the field toprocess and evaluate materials fully or partially based on therenewable resources.
This special issue portrays the recent and significantresearch activities occurring around the globe, on the uti-lization of potential biomass into polymeric materials. Somemicrobial biomass based on microbiologically producedpolymers (alginate) is also highlighted in this special issuealong with plant based polymers. Application of chitosan inprobiotic culture formulations, use of oil palm biomass forpreparations of bioplastic fertilizer composites and use ofstarch or other carbohydrates for preparation of compositematerials, and so forth are few highlights for this specialissue. Being readily available, these polymers may needsignificant improvements for end applications. For this, noveltechnologies and strategies are currently being researched.Similarly, various investigations to study the thermal andenvironmental degradation were carried out and are high-lighted in this special issue. Interestingly, renewable polymerscan be also used as a binding material for constructionpurpose. Underdeveloped countries may harness benefitsas these countries have enormous natural resources, andthis aspect has been highlighted in the special issue. Apartfrom processing products, the biopolymers were also used torelease biologically relevant materials in a controlledmanner.
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge all the authors for their valuable contribu-tions and the reviewers for their support and constructivecritiques in making this special issue possible.
Mukund AdsulDeepak K. Tuli
Pratheep K. AnnamalaiDilip DepanShiv Shankar
Submit your manuscripts athttp://www.hindawi.com
ScientificaHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
CorrosionInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
Polymer ScienceInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
CeramicsJournal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
CompositesJournal of
NanoparticlesJournal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
International Journal of
Biomaterials
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
NanoscienceJournal of
TextilesHindawi Publishing Corporation http://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
Journal of
NanotechnologyHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
Journal of
CrystallographyJournal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
The Scientific World JournalHindawi Publishing Corporation http://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
CoatingsJournal of
Advances in
Materials Science and EngineeringHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
Smart Materials Research
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
MetallurgyJournal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
BioMed Research International
MaterialsJournal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
Nano
materials
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
Journal ofNanomaterials
![Laurence W. McKeen, PhD - Pentasil Used in Medical Devices.pdf · of branched polymers include star polymers, comb polymers, brush polymers, dendronized polymers [1], ladders, and](https://static.fdocuments.us/doc/165x107/5fd30108783da00f76371237/laurence-w-mckeen-phd-pentasil-used-in-medical-devicespdf-of-branched-polymers.jpg)
