Natural biomaterial reinforcement

An early example of the use of biomaterials to reinforce is the incorporation of straw or horsehair to improve the strength of bricks and mortar. 

Natural materials that have been used to modify polymer properties include wood sawdust [188, 189], coconut fiber [167], carbon fibers [37], oat husks, cocoa, shells [190], sugarcane fibers [191], and banana fiber [193]. Monhonty and coworkers [193] observed a 70% increase in the flexural strength of polypropylene to which has been added 30% jute with a maleic anhydride-grafted polypropylene coupling agent. 

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Biocompatible biomaterials can be divided into two main categories natural biomaterials and synthetic biocompatible biomaterials. They can be used to form either the composite matrices or reinforcements during fabrication of wound dressings or tissue engineered scaffolds. 

Partial or complete replacement of natural organs with prosthetic components will someday be commonplace. For instance, the design of the total artificial heart, which has had limited clinical success, involved an application of many fundamental principles already discussed as they relate to hemodynamics, biomaterials, and control. Most would agree, however, that the materials-blood-tissue interface is the nidus for some of the most serious problems preventing the development of a safe and reliable artificial heart. This reinforces the importance of investigating at the molecular level the complex interactions that occur between artificial surfaces and the physiological environment. 

Ito et al (16) used combinatorial bioengineering methods to produce new biomaterials based on amino acids, nucleic acid, and non-natural components. In a different way, Silvestri et al (7) produced biomaterials by combining enzymes with synthetic polymers some examples were combinations of a-amylase with poly(vinyl alcohol), poly(ethylene glycol), and poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate). Jong (9) used soy protein as a reinforcement material in elastomers and observed an increase in the rubber modulus. 

Reinforced matrix scaffold for tissue engineering Some biomaterials, like naturally derived materials (eg, type I collagen, alginate) or synthetic polymers (eg, poly-glycolic acid (PGA), polylactic acid (PLA)), are commonly used for tissue engineering as 3D scaffolds whose primary function is to control the geometry and the volume of... 

The commercially available biomaterials for bone replacement and reinforcement do not take into account the bone natural piezoelectricity and the mechanism of... 

Another important feature of the NCC is the biodegradability, which is a result of totally natural and biodegradable materials being widely nsed in personal care, chemical, food, and pharmaceutical products [83]. The biomaterials used to reinforce high-performance nanocomposites, as biomedical implants and supercapacitors, among others, offer great ecological appeal for the development of new materials [78,84]. 

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