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Renewable Polysaccharides for Bioactive Functional Materials and Applications
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Renewable Polysaccharides for Bioactive Functional Materials and Applications

A special issue of Journal of Functional Biomaterials (ISSN 2079-4983).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 April 2023) | Viewed by 3865

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Lidija Fras Zemljič

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia
Interests: functionalization of materials; medical devices; medical textiles; polysaccharides; adsorption; colloids; surface chemistry; chitosan; interaction studies; charging behaviour
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Olivija Plohl

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maribor, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
Interests: polysaccharide-based magnetic nanocomposites; active biopolymers with an-tiviral and antimicrobial properties; encapsulated polymeric mi-cro/nanoparticles; derivatization of polysaccharides with target functionality; engineering and biomedical applications of polysaccharides; development of antiviral personal protective equipment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There are many methods of functionalizing polymeric materials, but most of them are still unfriendly to humans and the environment. For this reason, and due to the growing health consciousness of people and the increasing number of various diseases, there is a growing interest in methods of functionalizing polymeric materials by introducing bioactive properties, using environmentally friendly and less-used alternative renewable polymers. Properties such as biodegradability, antimicrobial properties, and antiviral activity open up a wide range of possibilities for the use of many biopolymers, such as polysaccharides and proteins, for the development of medical materials and devices intended for the treatment of various diseases and injuries of the skin, tissues, and certain mucous membranes. Packaging materials are an extremely attractive and topical area for these materials, where bioactive properties are even more welcome as they extend the shelf life of foods and allow for greater food safety for the consumer. Unfortunately, some renewable polymers providing such benefits also have drawbacks—for example, they may exhibit weak antioxidant character and usually only inhibit certain pathogenic bacteria or demonstrate narrow spectral inhibition activity. Based on the search for synergies between biopolymers, natural extracts or polyphenols, and natural surfactants, we can develop new colloidal formulations that lead to more overall efficient final bioactive properties of materials by integrating them into (as fillers) or onto (as coatings) polymeric materials.

This Special Issue is dedicated to the development of novel bioactive polymeric materials using renewable polymers in combination with co-natural substances that are bioactive and can potentially be used in different applications as medical textiles, medical devices, active packaging, etc. The Issue may also highlight the risks associated with scaling up recently developed products. Contributions from graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and young investigators from various research fields are highly welcome.

Prof. Dr. Lidija Fras Zemljič
Dr. Olivija Plohl
Guest Editors

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. Journal of Functional Biomaterials is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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

  • renewable polymers
  • biopolymers
  • biodegradable
  • antimicrobial
  • polysaccharides

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 3274 KiB  
Article
Using Different Surface Energy Models to Assess the Interactions between Antiviral Coating Films and phi6 Model Virus
by Zdenka Peršin Fratnik, Olivija Plohl, Vanja Kokol and Lidija Fras Zemljič
J. Funct. Biomater. 2023, 14(4), 232; https://doi.org/10.3390/jfb14040232 - 19 Apr 2023
Viewed by 1400
Abstract
High molecular weight chitosan (HMWCh), quaternised cellulose nanofibrils (qCNF), and their mixture showed antiviral potential in liquid phase, while this effect decreased when applied to facial masks, as studied in our recent work. To gain more insight into material antiviral activity, spin-coated thin [...] Read more.
High molecular weight chitosan (HMWCh), quaternised cellulose nanofibrils (qCNF), and their mixture showed antiviral potential in liquid phase, while this effect decreased when applied to facial masks, as studied in our recent work. To gain more insight into material antiviral activity, spin-coated thin films were prepared from each suspension (HMWCh, qCNF) and their mixture with a 1:1 ratio. To understand their mechanism of action, the interactions between these model films with various polar and nonpolar liquids and bacteriophage phi6 (in liquid phase) as a viral surrogate were studied. Surface free energy (SFE) estimates were used as a tool to evaluate the potential adhesion of different polar liquid phases to these films by contact angle measurements (CA) using the sessile drop method. The Fowkes, Owens–Wendt–Rabel–Kealble (OWRK), Wu, and van Oss–Chaudhury–Good (vOGC) mathematical models were used to estimate surface free energy and its polar and dispersive contributions, as well as the Lewis acid and Lewis base contributions. In addition, the surface tension SFT of liquids was also determined. The adhesion and cohesion forces in wetting processes were also observed. The estimated SFE of spin-coated films varied between mathematical models (26–31 mJ/m2) depending on the polarity of the solvents tested, but the correlation between models clearly indicated a significant dominance of the dispersion components that hinder wettability. The poor wettability was also supported by the fact that the cohesive forces in the liquid phase were stronger than the adhesion to the contact surface. In addition, the dispersive (hydrophobic) component dominated in the phi6 dispersion, and since this was also the case in the spin-coated films, it can be assumed that weak physical van der Waals forces (dispersion forces) and hydrophobic interactions occurred between phi6 and the polysaccharide films, resulting in the virus not being in sufficient contact with the tested material during antiviral testing of the material to be inactivated by the active coatings of the polysaccharides used. Regarding the contact killing mechanism, this is a disadvantage that can be overcome by changing the previous material surface (activation). In this way, HMWCh, qCNF, and their mixture can attach to the material surface with better adhesion, thickness, and different shape and orientation, resulting in a more dominant polar fraction of SFE and thus enabling the interactions within the polar part of phi6 dispersion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Polysaccharides for Bioactive Functional Materials and Applications)
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19 pages, 3222 KiB  
Article
Biomass-Derived Plant Extracts in Macromolecular Chitosan Matrices as a Green Coating for PLA Films
by Lidija Fras Zemljič, Tjaša Kraševac Glaser, Olivija Plohl, Ivan Anžel, Vida Šimat, Martina Čagalj, Eva Mežnar, Valentina Malin, Meta Sterniša and Sonja Smole Možina
J. Funct. Biomater. 2022, 13(4), 228; https://doi.org/10.3390/jfb13040228 - 07 Nov 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1879
Abstract
Due to the growing problem of food and packaging waste, environmental awareness, and customer requirements for food safety, there is a great need for the development of innovative and functional packaging. Among these developments, the concept of active packaging is at the forefront. [...] Read more.
Due to the growing problem of food and packaging waste, environmental awareness, and customer requirements for food safety, there is a great need for the development of innovative and functional packaging. Among these developments, the concept of active packaging is at the forefront. The shortcoming in this area is that there is still a lack of multifunctional concepts, as well as green approaches. Therefore, this work focuses on the development of active chemical substances of natural origin applied as a coating on polylactic acid (PLA) films. Biopolymer chitosan and plant extracts rich in phenolic compounds (blackberry leaves—Rubus fruticosus, needles of prickly juniper—Juniperus oxycedrus) obtained from plant biomass from Southeastern Europe were selected in this work. In order to increase the effectiveness of individual substances and to introduce multifunctionality, they were combined in the form of different colloidal structural formulations. The plant extracts were embedded in chitosan biopolymer particles and dispersed in a macromolecular chitosan solution. In addition, a two-layer coating, the first of a macromolecular chitosan solution, and the second of a dispersion of the embedded extracts in chitosan particles, was applied to the PLA films as a novel approach. The success of the coatings was monitored by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), and the wettability was evaluated by contact angle measurements. Scanning electron microscopy SEM tracked the morphology and homogeneity of the coating. Antioxidation was studied by DPPH and ABTS spectrophotometric tests, and microbiological analysis of the films was performed according to the ISO 22196 Standard. Desorption of the coating from the PLA was monitored by reducing the elemental composition of the films themselves. The successful functionalization of PLA was demonstrated, while the XPS and ATR-FTIR analyses clearly showed the peaks of elemental composition of the extracts and chitosan on the PLA surface. Moreover, in all cases, the contact angle of the bilayer coatings decreased by more than 35–60% and contributed to the anti-fogging properties. The desorption experiments, due to decrease in the concentration of the specific typical element (nitrogen), indicated some migration of substances from the PLA’s surface. The newly developed films also exhibited antioxidant properties, with antioxidant ABTS efficiencies ranging from 83.5 to 100% and a quite high inhibition of Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, averaging over 95%. The current functionalization of PLA simultaneously confers antifogging, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties and drives the development of a biodegradable and environmentally friendly composite material using green chemistry principles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Polysaccharides for Bioactive Functional Materials and Applications)
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