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Polymers
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Modification and Application of Natural Polymers
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Modification and Application of Natural Polymers

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 April 2024) | Viewed by 5700

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Dengfeng Yang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Guangxi Academy of Sciences, Nanning, China
Interests: biotechnology; structural biology; biosynthesis; natural product chemistry; marine actinomycetes

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural polymers play an essential role in the human and natural world, and they can be derived from a wide variety of sources, such as plants, animals, and microorganisms. In recent years, a large number of natural polymers have been studied extensively. These polymers show a good variety of characteristics and an excellent application prospect in the field of food and medicine. However, these natural polymers are sometimes less useful due to some poor properties. Thus, modified or biodegraded natural polymers tend to show better characteristics and have better applications, such as from high polymerization degree to low polymerization degree sugar tend to have higher biological activity.  Natural polymers have been widely used in a variety of applications such as industry, agriculture, food, and pharmaceuticals.

The proposed Special Issue focuses on:

✓ The discovery of natural polymers derived from plants, animals, and microorganisms.

✓ The physical, chemical, and biological characterization of natural polymers.

✓ The modification of natural polymers.

✓ Synthesis of artificial polymers.

✓ Characteristics of the functional properties of natural polymers.

✓ New applications of modified or natural polymers.

Prof. Dr. Dengfeng Yang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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

  • natural polymers
  • polysaccharide
  • polypeptide
  • modifications
  • synthesis
  • artificial polymers
  • functional properties
  • biodegradable
  • application

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 4768 KiB  
Article
Application of Tamarind Shell as a Green Additive in Natural Rubber
by Weenusarin Intiya, Kannika Hatthapanit, Puchong Thaptong and Pongdhorn Sae-oui
Polymers 2024, 16(4), 493; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16040493 - 9 Feb 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2190
Abstract
The feasibility of using tamarind shell as an eco-friendly additive in natural rubber (NR) was studied. Tamarind shell powder (TSP) was prepared with different particle size ranges before being characterized by various techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), [...] Read more.
The feasibility of using tamarind shell as an eco-friendly additive in natural rubber (NR) was studied. Tamarind shell powder (TSP) was prepared with different particle size ranges before being characterized by various techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), elemental analysis, etc. The results of the FTIR and elemental analysis confirmed that TSP was mainly composed of amino acids (proteins), celluloses, and tannins. The thermal analysis revealed that TSP contained approximately 9% moisture, and its main constituents were stable up to 200 °C, which is higher than the normal processing temperature of rubber products. The addition of TSP to NR led to reductions in scorch time and cure time due to the presence of moisture and proteins. This phenomenon was more obvious with the decrease in TSP’s particle size. Even though the small addition of TSP (≤10 phr) did not cause any change in hardness, it significantly impaired the mechanical properties of the rubber vulcanizates, particularly tensile strength, elongation at break, and abrasion resistance. Such deterioration depended greatly on the TSP particle size, i.e., the finest particles (S-TSP) showed the least deterioration of mechanical properties. In summary, TSP can be considered a low-cost, eco-friendly bio-additive for rubbers. Nevertheless, it must be used with great care to avoid undesirable impacts on mechanical properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modification and Application of Natural Polymers)
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10 pages, 5356 KiB  
Article
Synthesis and Modification of a Natural Polymer with the Participation of Metal Nanoparticles, Study of Their Composition and Properties
by Alma Khasenovna Zhakina, Bibigul B. Rakhimova, Yevgeniy P. Vassilets, Oxana V. Arnt and Zeinulla Muldakhmetov
Polymers 2024, 16(2), 264; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16020264 - 18 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1364
Abstract
A magnetic polymer material based on natural polymers—humic acids and magnetite, pre-configured for the sorption of a metal ion—was obtained. The magnetic polymer material was obtained via the interaction of a natural polymer, magnetite nanoparticles and sorbed metal ions that were used as [...] Read more.
A magnetic polymer material based on natural polymers—humic acids and magnetite, pre-configured for the sorption of a metal ion—was obtained. The magnetic polymer material was obtained via the interaction of a natural polymer, magnetite nanoparticles and sorbed metal ions that were used as a template. Moreover, the formation of a pre-polymerization complex was followed by copolycondensation with an amine in the presence of a crosslinking agent and further removal of metal ions from the crosslinked copolymer. The physicochemical properties of the resulting materials were determined using various physical methods. The composition of the resulting magnetic polymer materials was characterized by elemental analysis using an Elementar Unicube elemental analyzer. It was found that the carbon content increases by 8.28% and nitrogen by 0.42% for the polymer material Fe3O4:HA:T:AA; for the polymer material Fe3O4:HA:AA, the carbon content increases by 14.61% and nitrogen by 3.01%. Based on the IR spectra data, it is clear that magnetic polymer materials have much in common before hydrolysis (Fe3O4:HA:T:AA) and after hydrolysis (Fe3O4:HA:AA). The structure of the resulting polymer materials was studied using electron microscopy. Micrographs show the presence of pores in magnetic polymer materials after acid hydrolysis, indicating the formation of imprints. The results of the study of the sorption properties of magnetic polymer materials showed that after acid hydrolysis, the sorption capacity of a customized magnetic polymer material increases two times and it can act as a magnetic sorption material. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modification and Application of Natural Polymers)
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16 pages, 4325 KiB  
Article
Structural and Physical Properties of Alginate Pretreated by High-Pressure Homogenization
by Xiu Zhang, Jianrong Chen, Xuezhi Shao, Hongliang Li, Yongqiang Jiang, Yunkai Zhang and Dengfeng Yang
Polymers 2023, 15(15), 3225; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15153225 - 28 Jul 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1649
Abstract
To develop a high-efficient extraction method, we investigated the use of high-pressure homogenization (HPH) as a novel pretreatment technology for the extraction of sodium alginate (SA) from Laminaria japonica. After the single-factor experiment, the results demonstrated that under the conditions of 100 [...] Read more.
To develop a high-efficient extraction method, we investigated the use of high-pressure homogenization (HPH) as a novel pretreatment technology for the extraction of sodium alginate (SA) from Laminaria japonica. After the single-factor experiment, the results demonstrated that under the conditions of 100 MPa HPH pressure, 4 cycles, pH 6.0, and 0.5% EDTA for 3.0 h, the optimized extraction yield of HPH reached 34%. To further clarify the effect on the structural properties of HPH-extracted SA, we conducted comprehensive analysis using SEM, FTIR, MRS, NMR, XRD, TGA, and a T-AOC assay. Our findings revealed that HPH pretreatment significantly disrupted the structure of L. japonica cells and reduced their crystallinity to 76.27%. Furthermore, the antioxidant activity of HPH-extracted SA reached 0.02942 mgVceq∙mg−1. Therefore, the HPH pretreatment method is a potential strategy for the extraction of alginate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modification and Application of Natural Polymers)
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