T. Basak, R. Panackal Shibu, A. Zannat, J. L. Shamshina
Texas Tech University,
United States
Keywords: chitin, alternative sources, nanomaterials, tissue engineering
Summary:
Biopolymers, such as cellulose and chitin, are the most suitable raw materials for bioplastics production. Against the general perception, bioinspired manufacturing and sustainable materials are not substituting technology for synthetic polymers, but an enabling technology defining a new paradigm in manufacturing and allowing to do things that are unachievable by their synthetic counterparts. Contrarily to plastics, which are to a large extent processed by injection-, extrusion-, blow- or rotational molding, these bio-renewable polymers cannot be melt-processed and hence are not directly replaceable in melt processing technologies. Instead, they have to be solubilized to prepare biopolymeric materials. The last two decades’ developments include solution processing of biopolymers as one of the most promising strategies for biopolymer handling. Functional low-value (e.g., floor coating), medium-value (e.g., catalysts), and high-value (e.g., drug carriers, tissue engineering scaffolds, biomimetics) products are now accessible and will be discussed. The presentation will also cover multiple ways to transform biopolymers into various materials and elaborate on challenges and perspectives of preparation of biopolymeric materials from chitin raw source.