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Polymers
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Biopolymers and Bio-Based Polymer Composites
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Biopolymers and Bio-Based Polymer Composites

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomacromolecules, Biobased and Biodegradable Polymers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2024 | Viewed by 2214

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Iwona Zarzyka

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Rzeszow University of Technology, 35-959 Rzeszow, Poland
Interests: biopolymers; biosynthesized polyesters; blends; nanocomposites; structure-properties relationship; biodegradaion; thermal stability

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is devoted to one of the most popular fields of material science. Nowadays, biopolymers and biopolymer composites are considered to be a group of environmentally friendly materials with properties comparable to those of classic polymers. Due to society's growing sense of care for the natural environment, the use of biopolymers is currently one of the best available solutions to further reduce environmental pollution by commonly used plastics. Biopolymers and biopolymer composites have found applications in the fields of medicine and pharmacology and the packaging industry. They are often the subject of research related to the modification of properties and possible range of applications. 

This Special Issue focuses on biopolymers and biopolymer composite materials for different applications and aims to demonstrate researchers’ ability to design and manufacture biopolymer and biopolymer-based composites to address challenges posed by the application of classical polymers.

Prof. Dr. Iwona Zarzyka
Guest Editor

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

  • biopolymers
  • biodegradable polymers
  • biosynthesized polymers
  • biopolymer composites
  • nanobiocomposites
  • bionanoadditives
  • bioadditives
  • natural aliphatic polyesters
  • polylactide

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 17552 KiB  
Article
Biopolymer Compositions Based on Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) and Linear Polyurethanes with Aromatic Rings—Preparation and Properties Evaluation
by Beata Krzykowska, Anna Czerniecka-Kubicka, Anita Białkowska, Mohamed Bakar, Miroslava Kovářová, Vladimir Sedlařík, Dominika Hanusova and Iwona Zarzyka
Polymers 2024, 16(12), 1618; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16121618 - 7 Jun 2024
Viewed by 379
Abstract
Polymer biocompositions of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (P3HB) and linear polyurethanes (PU) with aromatic rings were produced by melt-blending at different P3HB/PU weight ratios (100/0, 95/5, 90/10, and 85/15). Polyurethanes have been prepared with 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate and polyethylene glycols with molar masses of 400 g/mol (PU400), [...] Read more.
Polymer biocompositions of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (P3HB) and linear polyurethanes (PU) with aromatic rings were produced by melt-blending at different P3HB/PU weight ratios (100/0, 95/5, 90/10, and 85/15). Polyurethanes have been prepared with 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate and polyethylene glycols with molar masses of 400 g/mol (PU400), 1000g/mol (PU1000), and 1500 g/mol (PU1500). The compatibility and morphology of the obtained polymer blends were determined by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The effect of the polyurethane content in the biocompositions on their thermal stability and mechanical properties was investigated and compared with those of the native P3HB. It was shown that increasing the PU content in P3HB-PU compositions to 10 wt.% leads to an improvement in the mentioned properties. The obtained results demonstrated that the thermal stability and mechanical properties of P3HB were improved, particularly in terms of increasing the degradation temperature, reducing hardness, and increasing impact strength. The best thermal and mechanical properties were shown by the P3HB-PU polymer compositions containing 10 wt.% of polyurethane modifiers, especially PU1000, which was also confirmed by the morphology analysis of these biocompositions. The presence of polyurethanes in the resulting polymer biocomposites decreases their glass transition temperatures, i.e., makes the materials more flexible. The resulting polymer biocompositions have suitable mechanical properties and thermal properties within the processing conditions for the predicted application as biodegradable, short-lived products for agriculture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biopolymers and Bio-Based Polymer Composites)
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19 pages, 4192 KiB  
Article
Cellulose-Based Polyurethane Foams of Low Flammability
by Marzena Szpiłyk, Renata Lubczak and Jacek Lubczak
Polymers 2024, 16(10), 1438; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16101438 - 19 May 2024
Viewed by 533
Abstract
Decreasing oil resources creates the need to search for raw materials in the biosphere, which can be converted into polyols suitable for obtaining polyurethane foams (PUF). One such low-cost and reproducible biopolymer is cellulose. There are not many examples of cellulose-derived polyols due [...] Read more.
Decreasing oil resources creates the need to search for raw materials in the biosphere, which can be converted into polyols suitable for obtaining polyurethane foams (PUF). One such low-cost and reproducible biopolymer is cellulose. There are not many examples of cellulose-derived polyols due to the sluggish reactivity of cellulose itself. Recently, cellulose and its hydroxypropyl derivatives were applied as source materials to obtain polyols, further converted into biodegradable rigid polyurethane foams (PUFs). Those PUFs were flammable. Here, we describe our efforts to modify such PUFs in order to decrease their flammability. We obtained an ester from diethylene glycol and phosphoric(III) acid and used it as a reactive flame retardant in the synthesis of polyol-containing hydroxypropyl derivative of cellulose. The cellulose-based polyol was characterized by infrared spectra (IR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) methods. Its properties, such as density, viscosity, surface tension, and hydroxyl numbers, were determined. Melamine was also added to the foamed composition as an additive flame retardant, obtaining PUFs, which were characterized by apparent density, water uptake, dimension stability, heat conductance, compressive strength, and heat resistance at 150 and 175 °C. Obtained rigid PUFs were tested for flammability by determining oxygen index, horizontal flammability test, and calorimetric analysis. Obtained rigid PUFs showed improved flammability resistance in comparison with non-modified PUFs and classic PUFs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biopolymers and Bio-Based Polymer Composites)
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18 pages, 3678 KiB  
Article
Toward Producing Biopolyethylene/Babassu Fiber Biocomposites with Improved Mechanical and Thermomechanical Properties
by Eduardo da Silva Barbosa Ferreira, Fabiano Santana da Silva, Carlos Bruno Barreto Luna, Anna Raffaela de Matos Costa, Fernanda Menezes de Sousa, Laura Hecker de Carvalho, Renate Maria Ramos Wellen and Edcleide Maria Araújo
Polymers 2024, 16(3), 419; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16030419 - 2 Feb 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1035
Abstract
The development of polymeric biocomposites containing natural fibers has grown over the years due to the properties achieved and its eco-friendly nature. Thus, biocomposites involving a polymer from a renewable source (Biopolyethylene (BioPE)) and babassu fibers (BFs), compatibilized with polyethylene grafted with maleic [...] Read more.
The development of polymeric biocomposites containing natural fibers has grown over the years due to the properties achieved and its eco-friendly nature. Thus, biocomposites involving a polymer from a renewable source (Biopolyethylene (BioPE)) and babassu fibers (BFs), compatibilized with polyethylene grafted with maleic anhydride (MA) and acrylic acid (AA) (PE-g-MA and PE-g-AA, respectively) were obtained using melt mixing and injection molded into tensile, impact, and HDT specimens. Babassu fiber was characterized with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetry (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The biocomposites were characterized using torque rheometry, TGA, tensile strength, impact strength, thermomechanical properties, Shore D hardness, and SEM. The data indicate that the torque during the processing of compatibilized biocomposites was higher than that of BioPE/BF biocomposites, which was taken as an indication of a possible reaction between the functional groups. Compatibilization led to a substantial improvement in the elastic modulus, tensile strength, HDT, and VST and a decrease in Shore D hardness. These results were justified with SEM micrographs, which showed babassu fibers better adhered to the surface of the biopolyethylene matrix, as well as an encapsulation of these fibers. The system investigated is environmentally sustainable, and the results are promising for the technology of polymeric composites. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biopolymers and Bio-Based Polymer Composites)
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