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Biopolymer-Based Materials towards the Sustainable Development Goals

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Biobased and Biodegradable Polymers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2023) | Viewed by 6511

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Fundamental Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP), Sao Paulo, Brazil
Interests: polysaccharides; hydrogels; cryogels; surfactants; biotechnological applications; environmental applications

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biopolymers can be engineered to offer a wide spectrum of technological applications. Many of them can contribute to the successful achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations. Biopolymer-based materials can be applied to (i) promote sustained drug delivery or create artificial tissues (SDG 3: Good health and wellbeing), (ii) remove pollutants from water (SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation and SDG14: Life below water), (iii) partially replace synthetic polymers in packaging (SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production, SDG13: Climate action, and SDG 15: Life on land). This Special Issue aims to showcase the versatility and potential of biopolymers to create sustainable solutions to tackle health and environmental issues addressed by the SDGs.

We welcome submission including, but not limited to, the following themes:

  • Drug loading and controlled release using biopolymers;
  • Biopolymer-based scaffold for tissue engineering;
  • Biopolymer-based hydrogels for wound healing dressings;
  • Biopolymer-based materials for heavy metal adsorption;
  • Biopolymer-based materials for water treatment;
  • Biopolymer packing materials.

Prof. Dr. Denise Petri
Dr. Amin Shavandi
Dr. Lei Nie
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • polysaccharides
  • biopolymers
  • proteins
  • biomedical applications
  • environmental applications
  • packing
  • Sustainable Development Goals

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 6158 KiB  
Article
A Relatively Simple Look at the Rather Complex Crystallization Kinetics of PLLA
by Jorge López-Beceiro, Ana-María Díaz-Díaz, Enrique Fernández-Pérez, Ignatius Ferreira, Walter W. Focke and Ramón Artiaga
Polymers 2023, 15(8), 1880; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15081880 - 14 Apr 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1674
Abstract
This work demonstrates that, despite the existence of a significant number of works on PLA crystallization, there is still a relatively simple way, different from those already described, in which its complex kinetics can be observed. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results presented here [...] Read more.
This work demonstrates that, despite the existence of a significant number of works on PLA crystallization, there is still a relatively simple way, different from those already described, in which its complex kinetics can be observed. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results presented here confirm that the PLLA under study crystallizes mostly in the α and α′ forms. An interesting observation is that at any temperature in the studied range of the patterns, the X-ray reflections stabilize with a given shape and at a given angle, different for each temperature. That means that both α and α′ forms coexist and are stable at the same temperatures so that the shape of each pattern results from both structures. However, the patterns obtained at each temperature are different because the predominance of one crystal form over the other depends on temperature. Thus, a two-component kinetic model is proposed to account for both crystal forms. The method involves the deconvolution of the exothermic DSC peaks using two logistic derivative functions. The existence of the rigid amorphous fraction (RAF) in addition to the two crystal forms increases the complexity of the whole crystallization process. However, the results presented here show that a two-component kinetic model can reproduce the overall crystallization process fairly well over a broad range of temperatures. The method used here for PLLA may be useful for describing the isothermal crystallization processes of other polymers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biopolymer-Based Materials towards the Sustainable Development Goals)
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22 pages, 3310 KiB  
Article
Caffeine Release from Magneto-Responsive Hydrogels Controlled by External Magnetic Field and Calcium Ions and Its Effect on the Viability of Neuronal Cells
by Emilli C. G. Frachini, Jéssica S. G. Selva, Paula C. Falcoswki, Jean B. Silva, Daniel R. Cornejo, Mauro Bertotti, Henning Ulrich and Denise F. S. Petri
Polymers 2023, 15(7), 1757; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15071757 - 31 Mar 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1665
Abstract
Caffeine (CAF) is a psychostimulant present in many beverages and with rapid bioabsorption. For this reason, matrices that effectuate the sustained release of a low amount of CAF would help reduce the intake frequency and side effects caused by high doses of this [...] Read more.
Caffeine (CAF) is a psychostimulant present in many beverages and with rapid bioabsorption. For this reason, matrices that effectuate the sustained release of a low amount of CAF would help reduce the intake frequency and side effects caused by high doses of this stimulant. Thus, in this study, CAF was loaded into magnetic gelatin/alginate (Gel/Alg/MNP) hydrogels at 18.5 mg/ghydrogel. The in vitro release of CAF was evaluated in the absence and presence of an external magnetic field (EMF) and Ca2+. In all cases, the presence of Ca2+ (0.002 M) retarded the release of CAF due to favorable interactions between them. Remarkably, the release of CAF from Gel/Alg/MNP in PBS/CaCl2 (0.002 M) at 37 °C under an EMF was more sustained due to synergic effects. In PBS/CaCl2 (0.002 M) and at 37 °C, the amounts of CAF released after 45 min from Gel/Alg and Gel/Alg/MNP/EMF were 8.3 ± 0.2 mg/ghydrogel and 6.1 ± 0.8 mg/ghydrogel, respectively. The concentration of CAF released from Gel/Alg and Gel/Alg/MNP hydrogels amounted to ~0.35 mM, thereby promoting an increase in cell viability for 48 h. Gel/Alg and Gel/Alg/MNP hydrogels can be applied as reservoirs to release CAF at suitable concentrations, thus forestalling possible side effects and improving the viability of SH-SY5Y cells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biopolymer-Based Materials towards the Sustainable Development Goals)
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9 pages, 1922 KiB  
Article
H2O2 Solution Steaming Combined Method to Cellulose Skeleton for Transparent Wood Infiltrated with Cellulose Acetate
by Jun Zhang, Yongling Ying, Xiaoyang Yi, Wenbo Han, Lu Yin, Yongjun Zheng and Rongbo Zheng
Polymers 2023, 15(7), 1733; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15071733 - 31 Mar 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2665
Abstract
Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) steaming, a green and highly efficient delignification method, has been demonstrated to provide a wood skeleton with a very low content of residual lignin in the manufacturing of transparent wood. It usually requires a long reaction [...] Read more.
Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) steaming, a green and highly efficient delignification method, has been demonstrated to provide a wood skeleton with a very low content of residual lignin in the manufacturing of transparent wood. It usually requires a long reaction time and a large amount of H2O2 because the piece of wood is treated using steaming equipment. Herein, a H2O2 solution steaming method was developed for the highly efficient removal of lignin from wood. Specifically, several wood samples were simultaneously immersed in a hot H2O2 solution to obtain delignified wood with a relatively high content of residual lignin, which provided a high strength and preserved the cellulose skeleton. Subsequently, the delignified wood with a relatively high content of residual lignin was further treated with H2O2 steam to obtain a very low lignin delignified wood. Compared with the previous H2O2 steaming method, the reaction time and used H2O2 volume of the H2O2 solution steaming method was reduced by 37.3% and 52.7%, respectively. All-biomass transparent wood could be obtained by infiltrating the delignified wood with cellulose acetate, which showed both a high transmittance of 83.0% and a low thermal conductivity of 0.30 Wm−1K−1. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biopolymer-Based Materials towards the Sustainable Development Goals)
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