Towards Zero Waste: Bio-Based and Biodegradable Materials in Waste Management
A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymeric Materials".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2025 | Viewed by 13
Special Issue Editors
Interests: biobased/biodegradable materials; polymer processing physics; solid-state structure-property relationship
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The growing increase in plastic use has promoted an economic boom in the polymer industry, due to their excellent processability, superior comprehensive properties, and various application scenarios. However, after use, their long-lasting durability brings about waste problems, with less than 10% of plastic being recycled in a circular economic manner. Additionally, the limited petroleum resources have hindered the feedstock in plastic production. To solve these issues, developing bio-based/biodegradable materials provides an effective solution since they are mostly derived from biomass and can be easily composted into H2O, CO2, and biomass after a short shelf life.
Enormous scientific and industrial interest has been paid to biodegradable polymers in recent years, particularly in relation to chemical structure tailoring, physical property improvement, material design for food/biomedical applications, and degradation processes. Each aspect plays a critical role in pushing the limits of bio-based/biodegradable materials in order to compete against the fully industrialized engineering plastics. This Special Issue aims to cover the most recent progress in bio-based/biodegradable materials development, including their preparation, processing, structure–property relationship, and recycling. Papers relating to (but not limited to) application in the packaging, food, medical, cosmetics, electronics, and automobile industries are welcome. We hope that this Special Issue will present perspectives on the future of bio-based/biodegradable materials.
In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Shanshan Xu
Dr. Grégory Stoclet
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- biodegrable polymers
- bio-based polymers
- degradation of biodegrable polymers
- structure–property relationship
- food packaging
- biomedical application
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