Biorenewable polymers/plastics

With an increase in worldwide environmental pollution caused by non-biodegradable polymers, research on the development of biodegradable biorenewable polymers is both necessary and valuable to support global sustainability and to help reduce industry dependence on petroleum and address environmental issue with petrochemicals [1]. Commercially available soy products, such as soy oil, soy protein isolate, soy flour, and soy protein concentrate have attracted much attention because of their abimdance, low cost and good biodegradability [2], Recently, these soy products have been considered environmentally friendly materials for adhesives [3], health care [4,5], plastics [6,7], and various binders [8],... 

PHAs can consist of a diverse set of repeating unit structures and have been studied intensely because the physical properties of these biopolyesters can be similar to petrochemical-derived plastics such as polypropylene (see Table 1). These biologically produced polyesters have already found application as bulk commodity plastics, fishing lines, and for medical use. PHAs have also attracted much attention as biodegradable polymers that can be produced from biorenewable resources. Many excellent reviews on the in vivo or in vitro synthesis of PHAs and their properties and applications exist, underlining the importance of this class of polymers [2, 6, 7, 12, 26-32]. 

The demand for better fuel efficiency based on the strict governmental regulations on safety and emission has led to the wide application of composites and plastics in the automotive industry in the place of the traditionally used steels [32]. Thermoplastic materials reinforced with natural fibers have reported to have excellent mechanical properties, recycling properties, etc. [33-36]. Several natural and biorenewable fibers such as wheat, isora, soybean, kenaf, straw, jute, and sisal are used in the fiber/plastic composite industry, and the use of namral fibers as reinforcements for composite has attracted many industries [37, 38]. Compared to polymer resin, polymer biocomposites that are reinforced with natural fibers have many applications due to its ease of processing, comparatively lower cost, and excellent mechanical properties [39]. For more than a decade, European car manufacturers and suppliers have been using natural fiber-based composites with thermoplastic and thermoset matrices. These biocomposites and bionanocomposites... 

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