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Polymers
Special Issues
Processing and Analysis of Natural Polymers
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Processing and Analysis of Natural Polymers

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Processing and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 August 2022) | Viewed by 10390

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Anna Szwajca

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Chemistry, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Uniwersytetu, Poznańskiego 8, 61-614 Poznań, Poland
Interests: organic chemistry; natural and synthetic organic polymers; physicochemical surface analysis; material chemistry; functionalized polymer nanostructures; fluorescent nanoparticles; DFT and semi-empirical calculation
Prof. Dr. Radosław Pankiewicz

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
Faculty of Chemistry, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 8, 61-614 Poznań, Poland
Interests: organic physicochemistry; spectroscopic analysis; organic synthesis; natural polymers; molecular modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymer materials are vital for the development of civilization. Until recently, polymers had mainly originated from crude oil. Because much attention is now being paid to the protection of the natural environment and the rational management of natural resources, interest has shifted to materials based on polymers of natural origin and the continuous improvement of their quality and properties. This Special Issue titled “Processing and Analysis of Natural Polymers” will present new ideas concerning this subject, including new methods of natural polymer production and ways of upgrading them. The realization of such tasks is based on the determination of their structure and analysis of the relationships between the structures and properties of natural polymers with the use of chemical and physical methods.

Prof. Dr. Anna Szwajca
Prof. Dr. Radosław Pankiewicz
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. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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

  • Natural polymers
  • Natural monomers
  • Degradable polymers
  • Hybrid materials
  • Nanocomposites
  • Functionalization
  • Polymerization
  • Spectroscopy
  • Conductivity
  • Rheological behavior

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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24 pages, 9135 KiB  
Article
Effect of Tamarind Gum on the Properties of Phase-Separated Poly(vinyl alcohol) Films
by Madhusmita Rawooth, SK Habibullah, Dilshad Qureshi, Deepti Bharti, Ankit Pal, Biswaranjan Mohanty, Maciej Jarzębski, Wojciech Smułek and Kunal Pal
Polymers 2022, 14(14), 2793; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14142793 - 08 Jul 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2172
Abstract
The current study aims to evaluate the effect of tamarind gum (TG) on the optical, mechanical, and drug release potential of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-based films. This involves preparing PVA-TG composite films with different concentrations of TG through a simple solvent casting method. The [...] Read more.
The current study aims to evaluate the effect of tamarind gum (TG) on the optical, mechanical, and drug release potential of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-based films. This involves preparing PVA-TG composite films with different concentrations of TG through a simple solvent casting method. The addition of TG has enhanced the phase separation and aggregation of PVA within the films, and it becomes greater with the increase in TG concentration. Brightfield and polarized light micrographs have revealed that aggregation is favored by forming crystalline domains at the PVA-TG interface. The interconnected network of PVA-TG aggregates influenced the swelling and drying properties of the films. Using Peleg’s analysis, the mechanical behavior of films was determined by their stress relaxation profiles. The addition of TG has made no significant changes to the firmness and viscoelastic properties of films. However, long-durational relaxation times indicated that the interconnected network might break down in films with higher TG concentration, suggesting their brittleness. The controlled release of ciprofloxacin in HCl solution (0.5% (w/v)) appears to decrease with the increase in TG concentration. In fact, TG has inversely affected the impedance and altered the ionic conductivity within the films. This seems to have directly influenced the drug release from the films as the mechanism was found to be non-Fickian diffusion (based on Korsmeyer–Peepas and Peppas–Sahlin kinetic models). The antimicrobial study using Escherichia coli was carried out to evaluate the activity of the drug-loaded films. The study proves that TG can modulate the properties of PVA films and has the potential to fine-tune the controlled release of drugs from composite films. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Processing and Analysis of Natural Polymers)
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14 pages, 5011 KiB  
Article
Incorporation of Fluorescent Fluorinated Methacrylate Nano-Sized Particles into Chitosan Matrix Formed as a Membranes or Beads
by Anna Szwajca, Sandra Juszczyńska, Maciej Jarzębski and Elżbieta Baryła-Pankiewicz
Polymers 2022, 14(13), 2750; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14132750 - 05 Jul 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1591
Abstract
Fluorescent particles are of particular interest as probes and active agents for biomedical, pharmaceutical, and food applications. Here, we present two strategies for incorporation of core-shell acrylic fluorescent nanoparticles (NPs) with Rhodamine B (RhB) as a dye into a chitosan (CS) matrix. We [...] Read more.
Fluorescent particles are of particular interest as probes and active agents for biomedical, pharmaceutical, and food applications. Here, we present two strategies for incorporation of core-shell acrylic fluorescent nanoparticles (NPs) with Rhodamine B (RhB) as a dye into a chitosan (CS) matrix. We selected two variants of NPsRhB immobilisation in a CS membrane and biopolymeric CS beads. Modification of the method for production of the biopolymer cover/transporter of nanoparticles allowed two series of hydrogels loaded with nanoparticles to be obtained with a similar concentration of the aqueous solution of the nanoparticles. Microscopic analysis showed that the NPs were nonuniformly distributed in millimetre-sized CS beads, as well as membranes, but the fluorescence signal was strong. The composition of CS layers loaded with nanoparticles (CS/NPsRhB) showed water vapour barrier properties, characterised by the contact angle of 71.8°. Finally, we incorporated NPsRhBCS beads into a gelatine matrix to check their stability. The results confirmed good stability of the NPsRhBCS complex system, and no dye leakage was observed from the beads and the membranes. The proposed complex system demonstrated promising potential for further use in bioimaging and, thus, for the development of advanced diagnostic tools. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Processing and Analysis of Natural Polymers)
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13 pages, 5101 KiB  
Article
Effects of Adding Antioxidants on the Lightfastness Improvement of Refined Oriental Lacquer
by Kun-Tsung Lu and Jia-Jhen Lee
Polymers 2021, 13(7), 1110; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13071110 - 31 Mar 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1728
Abstract
Refined oriental lacquer (ROL) is a natural polymeric material with a satiny texture, elegant beauty, and high durability for wood furniture and handicraft finishing. However, its poor lightfastness, which results from the photo-degradation or photo-oxidation of its main component, catechol derivatives, must be [...] Read more.
Refined oriental lacquer (ROL) is a natural polymeric material with a satiny texture, elegant beauty, and high durability for wood furniture and handicraft finishing. However, its poor lightfastness, which results from the photo-degradation or photo-oxidation of its main component, catechol derivatives, must be improved for its widespread utilization. In this study, two experiments were performed. First, five types of antioxidants, including three primary antioxidants, such as 2,2′-methylenebis(6-nonyl-p-cresol) (coded as AO-1), 2,2′-methylenebis(6-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol) (AO-2), and bis [4-(2-phenyl-2-propyl) phenyl] amine (AO-N), and two secondary antioxidants, such as tris (2,4-ditert-butylphenyl) phosphite (AO-P) and dilauryl thiodipropionate (AO-S), were investigated to determine which is the most effective for improving the lightfastness of ROL. Secondly, the appropriate quantity of the best antioxidant, including 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 phr, was also determined. The lightfastness parameters, such as brightness difference (ΔL*), yellowness difference (ΔYI), and color difference (ΔE*), as well as other coating and film properties, were assessed. The results showed that the primary antioxidants had higher efficiency than secondary antioxidants for improving the lightfastness of ROL. Among the primary antioxidants, the 5 phr AO-N was the most effective at improving the lightfastness of ROL; however, 1 phr addition had already shown significantly improved efficiency. In addition, the drying time of ROL was extended and film properties decreased when increasing the content of AO-N, but the 1-phr-containing ROL displayed superior film properties, especially adhesion and bending resistance, compared with the raw ROL film. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Processing and Analysis of Natural Polymers)
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Review

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14 pages, 1749 KiB  
Review
Discoloration Mechanisms of Natural Rubber and Its Control
by Mingzhe Lv, Lei Fang, Heping Yu, Porntip Rojruthai and Jitladda Sakdapipanich
Polymers 2022, 14(4), 764; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14040764 - 16 Feb 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4036
Abstract
Color is an important indicator for evaluating the quality of natural rubber (NR). Light-colored standard rubbers are widely used in high-grade products and have high economic value. This paper first introduces the history and test standards of the standard light-colored rubber. The origin [...] Read more.
Color is an important indicator for evaluating the quality of natural rubber (NR). Light-colored standard rubbers are widely used in high-grade products and have high economic value. This paper first introduces the history and test standards of the standard light-colored rubber. The origin of color deepening in NR processing, color substances, and its biosynthetic pathway are reviewed. Then, the discoloration mechanism of NR is studied from the perspectives of enzymatic browning (caused by polyphenol oxidase and polyphenols) and non-enzymatic browning (including Maillard reaction and lipid oxidation). Finally, the strategies to control the discoloration of NR will be described. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Processing and Analysis of Natural Polymers)
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