Title Details

Vijay Kumar Thakur is a Lecturer in the School of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing Engineering, Cranfield University, UK. Previously he had been a Staff Scientist in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Washington State University, USA. He spent his postdoctoral study in Materials Science & Engineering at Iowa State University, USA, and gained his PhD in Polymer Chemistry (2009) at the National Institute of Technology, India. He has published more than 90 SCI journal research articles in the field of polymers/materials science and holds one US patent. He has also published about 25 books and 33 book chapters on the advanced state-of-the-art of polymers/materials science with numerous publishers, including Wiley-Scrivener.

Manju Kumar Thakur has been working as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the Division of Chemistry, Govt. Degree College Sarkaghat Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, India since 2010. She received her PhD in Polymer Chemistry from the Chemistry Department at Himachal Pradesh University. She has deep experience in the field of organic chemistry, biopolymers, composites/ nanocomposites, hydrogels, applications of hydrogels in the removal of toxic heavy metal ions, drug delivery etc. She has published more than 30 research papers in peer-reviewed journals, 25 book chapters and co-authored five books all in the field of polymeric materials.

Michael R. Kessler is a Professor and Director of the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Washington State University, USA. He is an expert in the mechanics, processing, and characterization of polymer matrix composites and nanocomposites. His honours include the Army Research Office Young Investigator Award, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award, the NSF CAREER Award, and the Elsevier Young Composites Researcher Award from the American Society for Composites. He has more than 150 journal articles and 5800 citations, holds 6 patents, published 5 books on the synthesis and characterization of polymer materials, and presented at least 200 talks at national and international meetings.

Preface xix

About the Editors xxi

1 Carbon Fibers from Sustainable Resources 1
Rafael de Avila Delucis, Veronica Maria de Araujo Calado, Jose Roberto Moraes d’Almeida and Sandro Campos Amico

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Lignin and Other Sustainable Resources 3

1.3 Carbon Fibers from Lignin 9

1.4 Carbon Fibers from Other Sustainable Resources 12

1.5 Concluding Remarks 15

References 15

2 Polylactic Acid Composites and Composite Foams Based on Natural Fibers 25
A.A. Pérez-Fonseca, H. Teymoorzadeh, J.R. Robledo-Ortíz, R. González-Nuñez and D. Rodrigue

2.1 Introduction 25

2.2 PLA-Natural Fibers Composites 27

2.3 PLA Composite Foams with Natural Fibers 36

2.4 Thermal Annealing of PLA Composites 51

2.5 Conclusions 55

References 55

3 Microcrystalline Cellulose and Related Polymer Composites: Synthesis, Characterization and Properties 61
Djalal Trache

3.1 Introduction 61

3.2 Cellulose: Structure and Sources 63

3.3 Microcrystalline Cellulose 66

3.4 Characterization and Properties of Microcrystalline Cellulose 72

3.5 MCC-based Composites 78

3.6 Application of Composite Materials Based on MCC 83

3.7 Conclusions 84

Acknowledgments 85

References 85

4 Tannin-Based Foams: The Innovative Material for Insulation Purposes 93
Gianluca Tondi and Alexander Petutschnigg

4.1 First Tannin Foams and Their Characterization 93

4.2 Formulation and Process Modifications 96

4.3 Composite Materials: Tannin-based Panels 100

4.4 Conclusions 102

References 102

5 Renewable Feedstock Vanillin-Derived Polymer and Composites: Structure Property Relationship 107
G. Madhumitha, Selvaraj Mohana Roopan, D. Devi Priya and G. Elango

5.1 Introduction 107

5.2 Vanillin Production 109

5.3 Some Common Applications of Vanillin 111

5.4 Vanillin-Derived Polymers 112

5.5 Vanillin-based Composites 119

5.6 Applications of Vanillin-based Polymers and Composites 121

5.7 Conclusion 124

References 125

6 Biomass-Based Formaldehyde-Free Bio-Resin for Wood Panel Process 129
Xiaobin Zhao

6.1 Introduction 129

6.1.1 Wood Composite 129

6.1.2 Biomass-based Adhesives 130

6.2 Market Analysis of Biomass Based Adhesives 130

6.3 Bio-based Adhesive Formulations 131

6.4 Cambond Biomass Based Adhesives 135

6.5 Bio-composites Based on Cambond Bio-Resin 142

6.6 Final Remarks 145

7 Bio-Derived Adhesives and Matrix Polymers for Composites 151
Mariusz Ł. Mamiński and Renata Toczyłowska-Mamińska

7.1 Introduction 151

7.2 Glycerol 152

7.3 Tannins 156

7.4 Lignin 159

7.5 Polysaccharides 165

7.6 Proteins 170

7.7 Oils 175

7.8 Microorganism-produced biopolymers 177

8 Silk Biocomposites: Structure and Chemistry 189
Alexander Morin, Mahdi Pahlevan and Parvez Alam

8.1 Introduction 189

8.2 Spider Silk Protein 189

8.3 Bombyx Mori Silk 195

8.4 Silk Biocomposites: Applications 205

9 Isolation and Characterisation of Water Soluble Polysaccharide from Colocasia esculenta Tubers 221
Harshal Ashok Pawar, Pritam Dinesh Choudhary and Amit Jagannath Gavasane

9.1 Introduction 221

9.2 Materials and Methods 224

9.3 Results and Discussion 230

9.4 Conclusions 238

Acknowledgements 238

References 238

10 Bio-based Fillers for Environmentally Friendly Composites 243
Thabang H. Mokhothu and Maya J. John

10.1 Introduction 243

10.2 Bio-based Fillers/Reinforcements 244

10.3 Bio-based Fillers Reinforced Biopolymer Composites 255

10.4 Applications of Bio-based Composites 261

10.5 Summary 262

References 264

11 Keratin-based Materials in Biotechnology 271
Hafiz M. N. Iqbal and Tajalli Keshavarz

11.1 Introduction 271

11.2 Biopolymers 273

11.3 Classification of Biopolymers 273

11.4 Occurrence and Physicochemical Properties of Keratin 274

11.5 Keratin-based Biomaterials 276

11.6 Bio-composites 276

11.7 Properties of Bio-composites for Bio-medical Applications 278

11.8 Biomedical and Biotechnological Applications 280

11.9 Potential Applications 281

11.10 Concluding Remarks 284

References 284

12 Pineapple Leaf Fiber: A High Potential Reinforcement for Green Rubber and Plastic Composites 289
Taweechai Amornsakchai

12.1 Introduction 289

12.2 Structure of Pineapple Leaf and Pineapple Leaf Fiber 292

12.3 Conventional Methods of Fiber Extraction 293

12.4 The Novel Mechanical Grinding Method 293

12.5 Potential Applications of PALF as Reinforcement for Polymer Matrix Composites 298

12.6 Concluding Remarks 304

Acknowledgements 305

References 305

13 Insights into the Structure of Proteins Adsorbed onto Bioactive Glasses 309
Klára Magyari, Adriana Vulpoi and Lucian Baia

13.1 Introduction 309

13.2 Bioactive Glasses as Renewable Materials 310

13.3 Proteins Structure 313

13.4 Suitable Methods for Proteins Investigation 315

13.5 Interaction of Protein with Bioactive Glasses 320

13.6 Summary 330

Acknowledgements 331

14 Effect of Filler Properties on the Antioxidant Response of Thermoplastic Starch Composites 337
Tomy J. Gutiérrez, Paula González Seligra, Carolina Medina Jaramillo, Lucía Famá and Silvia Goyanes

14.1 Introduction 337

14.2 Starch-based Nanocomposites 338

14.3 Regulatory Aspect 355

14.4 Conclusions and Outlook 357

Acknowledgements 358

15 Preparation and Application of the Composite from Chitosan 371
Chen Yu

15.1 Introduction 371

15.2 Composites from Chitosan and Natural Polymers 372

15.3 Composites from Chitosan and Synthetic Polymers 380

15.4 Composites from Chitosan and Biomacromolecules 388

15.5 Composites from Chitosan and Inorganic Components 394

15.6 Composites from Chitosan and Carbon Materials 409

Acknowledgments 420

16 Overview on Synthesis of Magnetic Bio Char from Discarded Agricultural Biomass 435
Manoj Tripathi, N.M. Mubarak, J.N. Sahu and P.Ganesan

16.1 Introduction 436

16.2 Magnetic Bio Char 437

16.3 Synthesis of Magnetic Bio Char 438

16.4 Characteristics of Magnetic Bio Char 447

16.5 Applications of Magnetic Bio Char 450

16.6 Challenges and Future Scope of Magnetic Bio Char 452

16.7 Summary 452

Acknowledgement 454

17 Polyurethanes Foams from Bio-Based and Recycled Components 461
S.Gaidukovs, U.Cabulis and G.Gaidukova

17.1 Introduction 461

17.2 Experiments 464

17.3 Results and Discussion 467

Conclusions 478

References 479

18 Biodegradable Polymers for Protein and Peptide Therapeutics: Next Generation Delivery Systems 455
Sathish Dyawanapelly, Nishant Kumar Jain, Sindhu KR, Maruthi Prassana and Akhilesh Vikram Singh

18.1 Introduction 456

18.2 Protein Therapeutics and Their Challenges 456

18.3 Biodegradable Polymers for Conjugation 459

18.4 PEGylated Protein Therapeutics 460

18.5 Glycosylation of Proteins 470

18.6 Polyglycerols (PG)-Protein Conjugates 480

18.7 Dendrimer-Protein Conjugates 481

18.8 HESylation of Proteins 485

18.9 Dextran-Protein Conjugates 487

18.10 Dextrin-Protein Conjugates 494

18.11 Hyaluronic Acid (HA)-Protein Conjugates 496

18.12 Some Other Polymer-Protein Conjugates 503

18.13 PASylation 503

18.14 Conclusion and Future Perspectives 504

Abbreviations 504

References 507