Biomaterial renewable resources

The increased importance of renewable resources for raw materials and recyclability or biodegradability of the material at the end of its useful life is demanding a shift from petroleum-based synthetics to agro-based materials in industrial applications. Increased social awareness of environmental problems posed by the non-degradable, non-recyclable content of their products is forcing manufacturers to enhance the biodegradable content, which in turn favors a switch to biomaterials [1]. 

Renewable Resources for Functional Polymers and Biomaterials 2 Molecular Design and Applications of Photofunctional Polymers and Materials... 

G. LUgadas, J. C. Ronda, M. GaUa and V. Cadiz, Poly(ether urethane) networks from renewable resources as candidate biomaterials Synthesis and characterization , Biomacromolecules, 2007,8, 686-92. 

Polypeptides represent a class of molecules, which are uniquely qualified to serve as biomaterials. They imdergo self-assembly to form macroscopic stmctures and are s)mthesized from renewable resources. Chemoenzymatic synthesis, identification of new enz)nne sequences and native chemical ligation has advanced the more traditional routes of polypeptide production. Despite the successes outlined above, these techniques have been modest in their production of new biomaterials. Progress in the development of next -generation biomaterials wiU require media and protein engineering as well as combining these methods reviewed above. One of the major limitations in the chemoenz3unatic... 

T. Kean, and M. Thanou, Chitin and chitosan Sources, production and medical applications, in Renewable Resources for Functional Polymers and Biomaterials Polysaccharides, Proteins and Polyesters. 2011, The Royal Society of Chemistry. Chap. 10,292-318. 

Nowadays crop production gives some essential material and some material that is not used very effectively. For example maize and soybean are major crops in the US and produce a large amount of biomaterial per unit area. From the synergic activity of plant breeding and transgenic techniques it will be possible to more efficiently develop traits of value in the major crops. Recent study carried out by the US National Academy of Science indicates that biotechnology could play a major role in developing new approaches to renewable resources [355]. 

The biocompatible dimerized fatty acid (DFA)-based poly(aliphatic-aromatic ester) elastomers (PED) have been synthesized and studied for biomedical applications by El Fray et al. [194-200]. The design of nanostructured elastomeric biomaterials (mimicking biological materials) has been realized by using renewable resources, i.e., DFA. They are prepared by transesterification and polycondensation from the melt (see Section 7). The exceptional properties of DFA, e.g., excellent resistance to oxidative and thermal degradation, allow the preparation of PEDs without the use of thermal (often irritating) stabilizers. This is a particularly important feature making these polymers environmentally friendly and additive-free. What is equally important, by the use of the same method and stabilizer-free conditions, it was possible to prepare specially modified PED copolymers with an increased surface hydrophobicity. 

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