Biopolymer-Based Materials from Polysaccharides: Properties, Processing, Characterization and Sorption Applications

Abstract

Biopolymers are polymeric materials derived from biological sources. Due to their renewability, abundance, biodegradability and other unique properties such as high adsorption capabilities and ease of functionalization they have been investigated for several industrial applications including sorption. Polysaccharides especially cellulose, chitin and chitosan are important biopolymers because of their high abundance, wide distribution and low cost of production. This chapter provides an overview of properties, common processing methods, and material characterization of three commonly studied biopolymers namely cellulose, chitin and chitosan. It provides a thorough review on recent developments on utilization of cellulose, chitin, and chitosan-based materials for various sorption applications. Specifically, their application and efficiency in organic dye removal, heavy metals removal, oil and solvent spillage cleanup, and CO 2 adsorption are presented and discussed.

Recent Advances in Bioplastics: Application and Biodegradation

“…Approximately 1.5 × 10 12 tonnes is produced annually [68]. Cellulose is a linear homopolymer of 7000-15,000 β-D glucose monomers which alternately rotate 180 • and form microfibrils with diameters of approximately 3-4 nm, and subsequently, macrofibrils of 10-25 nm in diameter [67,69]. Naturally occurring cellulose possesses a multi-level microstructure commonly referred to as a hierarchical structure.…”

“…The applications of nanocellulose include nanocellulose-based nanocomposites in the medical industry, water filtration, reinforcement of Li-ion battery manufacturing, and applications in the food packaging industry to name a few [73,74]. Furthermore, comprehensive reviews of nanocellulose biopolymers are available in the literature [69,70,72,75].…”

Protein and Polysaccharide-Based Magnetic Composite Materials for Medical Applications

“…The arrangement of chains in chitin can be designated as α, β, and γ chitin. α-chitin is mostly found in arthropods and crustaceans, and has chains in a parallel arrangement; β-chitin has an antiparallel arrangement; and γ-chitin is a combination of parallel and antiparallel where out of every three chitin chains, two are parallel and one is antiparallel [18,69]. Chitin is widely distributed among plants and animals and even found in the cell wall of fungi and algae.…”

Odorless Glutathione Microneedle Patches for Skin Whitening

“…The high biocompatibility and tunable physicochemical properties of biopolymers such as hyaluronic acid (HA) render them suitable candidates as a MN material [16,17]. In addition, biopolymers with multifunctional groups can interact with molecules through reversible ionic interactions, hydrogen bonding, and van der Waal forces, thereby contributing to their high loading capacity and good adsorbent properties [18]. Since the release kinetics of drugs loaded in MNs may be controlled through dissolution or the degradation rate of the polymers used, dissolving MN platforms can be applied for the sustained and long-term release of drugs through transdermal routes [19][20][21][22].…”