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Topic Review
Cellulose
Cellulose is the main substance of a plant’s cell walls, helping plants to remain stiff and upright, hence, it can be extracted from plant sources, agriculture waste, animals, and bacterial pellicle. It is composed of polymer chains consisting of unbranched β (1,4) linked D glucopyranosyl units (anhydroglucose unit, AGU).
  • 7.5K
  • 07 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Electrical Resistance/Conductivity of CFRP
This entry provides a comprehensive basis for readers to grasp recent research progresses on electrical behaviors of Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), which plays an important role in many fields, especially in aviation and civil industries. The electrical conductivity of CFRP is critical for its electrical behaviors, such as its lightning strike vulnerability, electromagnetic shielding ability, and potential uses for self-sensing. In addition, the electrical conductivity is related to the mechanical integrity. Therefore, electrical properties can be measured as an indication in the detection of delamination and other defects in CFRP. 
  • 7.2K
  • 01 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Meat Packaging
The term ‘packaging’ refers to the technological intervention aimed at the protection of food from a variety of factors, which provokes the product detriment. Packaging is considered as one of the most interesting technological aspects and a constantly evolving issue in food production. 
  • 6.8K
  • 21 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Biopolymers for Medical Applications
Biopolymers are the organic substances present in natural sources. The term biopolymer originates from the Greek words bio and polymer, representing nature and living organisms. Large macromolecules made up of numerous repeating units are known as biopolymers. As per the IUPAC definition, a macromolecule defines a single molecule. The biopolymers are found to be biocompatible and biodegradable, making them useful in different applications, such as edible films, emulsions, packaging materials in the food industry, and as drug transport materials, medical implants like medical implants organs, wound healing, tissue scaffolds, and dressing materials in pharmaceutical industries. 
  • 6.8K
  • 18 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Polyelectrolyte
Polyelectrolytes are polymers of oppositely charged ions and their properties differ profoundly than their repeating units. Over recent years, much advancement has been made in the synthesis, characterization, and application of polyelectrolytes and polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs). It has many applications as flocculation agents, dispersant agents, and as super-plasticizers. In this article, the synthesis, types, characteristics, and application of PECs mainly for drug delivery and dynamics study are reviewed.
  • 6.6K
  • 27 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Natural Biopolymers
Natural biopolymers are an interesting resource for edible films production, as they are environmentally friendly packaging materials.
  • 6.5K
  • 23 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Coumarin
Coumarin (2H-1-benzopyran-2-one) is an oxygen containing heterocycle and belongs to the subcategory of lactones.
  • 5.7K
  • 06 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Hyaluronic Acid
Hyaluronic acid, as a natural linear polysaccharide, has attracted researchers’ attention from its initial detection and isolation from tissues in 1934 until the present day. Due to biocompatibility and a high biodegradation of hyaluronic acid, it finds wide application in bioengineering and biomedicine: from biorevitalizing skin cosmetics and endoprostheses of joint fluid to polymeric scaffolds and wound dressings. However, the main properties of aqueous polysaccharide solutions with different molecular weights are different. Moreover, the therapeutic effect of hyaluronic acid-based preparations directly depends on the molecular weight of the biopolymer. The present entry collects the information about hyaluronic acid and its original properties. Particular emphasis is placed on the structural, physical and physico-chemical properties of hyaluronic acid in water solutions, as well as their degradability.
  • 5.6K
  • 31 Aug 2020
Topic Review
Polymer 3D Printing
Polymer 3D printing is an emerging technology with recent research translating towards increased use in diverse industries. The polymer 3D printing process works by depositing a polymer in a directed fashion to form a completed part, generally through layer by layer deposition.  Polymer printing is advantageous because it enables printing low-cost functional parts with diverse properties and capabilities. An important aspect polymer 3D printing is the consideration of materials, processes, and design strategies that all influence a parts performance. Research in materials has led to the development of polymers with advantageous characteristics for mechanics and biocompatibility, with tuning of mechanical properties achieved by altering printing process parameters. Suitable polymer printing processes include extrusion, resin, and powder 3D printing, which enable directed material deposition for the design of advantageous and customized architectures.  Through careful consideration of material, process, and design it is possible to create a 3D printed polymer part of complex geometry that is tuned for a specific application on a per-print basis.
  • 5.5K
  • 23 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Jojoba Oil
Jojoba is a widely used medicinal plant that is cultivated worldwide. Its seeds and oil have a long history of use in folklore to treat various ailments, such as skin and scalp disorders, superficial wounds, sore throat, obesity, and cancer; for improvement of liver functions, enhancement of immunity, and promotion of hair growth. Extensive studies on Jojoba oil showed a wide range of pharmacological applications, including antioxidant, anti-acne and antipsoriasis, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antipyretic, analgesic, antimicrobial, and anti-hyperglycemia activities. In addition, Jojoba oil is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry, especially in cosmetics for topical, transdermal, and parenteral preparations. Jojoba oil also holds value in the industry as an anti-rodent, insecticides, lubricant, surfactant, and a source for the production of bioenergy. Jojoba oil is considered among the top-ranked oils due to its wax, which constitutes about 98% (mainly wax esters, few free fatty acids, alcohols, and hydrocarbons). In addition, sterols and vitamins with few triglyceride esters, flavonoids, phenolic and cyanogenic compounds are also present. 
  • 5.2K
  • 03 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Microalgae/Cyanobacteria in Biodegradation of Plastics
Cyanobacteria (e.g., Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, and Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942), which are photosynthetic prokaryotes and were previously identified as blue-green algae, are currently under close attention for their abilities to capture solar energy and the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide for the production of high-value products. In the last few decades, these microorganisms have been exploited for different purposes (e.g., biofuels, antioxidants, fertilizers, and ‘superfood’ production). Microalgae (e.g., Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, and Phaeodactylum tricornutum) are also suitable for environmental and biotechnological applications based on the exploitation of solar light. In recent years, several studies have been targeting the utilization of microorganisms for plastic bioremediation. Among the different phyla, the employment of wild-type or engineered cyanobacteria may represent an interesting, environmentally friendly, and sustainable option (e.g., mismanaged plastics as source of carbons for their cultivation: the connection between their simultaneous utilization for biofuels or chemicals production and microplastics consumption on the surface of basins).
  • 5.1K
  • 05 Jan 2021
Topic Review
VARTM Processed Composite Materials
Fiber-reinforced composite structures are used in different applications due to their excellent strength to weight ratio. Due to cost and tool handling issues in conventional manufacturing processes, like resin transfer molding (RTM) and autoclave, vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) is the best choice among industries. VARTM is highly productive and cheap. However, the VARTM process produces complex, lightweight, and bulky structures, suitable for mass and cost-effective production, but the presence of voids and fiber misalignment in the final processed composite influences its strength. Voids are the primary defects, and they cannot be eliminated completely, so a design without considering void defects will entail unreliability. Many conventional failure theories were used for composite design but did not consider the effect of voids defects, thus creating misleading failure characteristics.
  • 5.0K
  • 07 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Overview of Polylactic Acid
Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is an important polymer that is based on renewable biomass resources. Because of environmental issues, more renewable sources for polymers synthesis have been sought for industrial purposes.
  • 4.6K
  • 20 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Non-Ionic Surfactants
Surfactants are essential in the manufacture of polymeric nanoparticles by emulsion formation methods and to preserve the stability of carriers in liquid media. The deposition of non-ionic surfactants at the interface allows a considerable reduction of the globule of the emulsion with high biocompatibility and the possibility of oscillating the final sizes in a wide nanometric range.
  • 4.6K
  • 29 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Aloe vera
Aloe vera plant offers a sustainable solution for the removal of various pollutants from water. Due to its chemical composition, Aloe vera has been explored as coagulant/flocculant and biosorbent for water treatment. 
  • 4.4K
  • 23 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Coordination Polymers
Coordination polymers are solid-state structures consisting of repeating coordination units extending in one, two or three dimensions. Fields applications of the coordination polymers in general and metal-organic frameworks in particular are briefly discussed.
  • 4.4K
  • 31 Jul 2020
Topic Review
Porous Carbon
Porous carbons are an important class of porous materials that have grown rapidly in recent years. They have the advantages of a tunable pore structure, good physical and chemical stability, a variable specific surface, and the possibility of easy functionalization.   
  • 4.3K
  • 29 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Contact Lens Materials - A Materials Science Perspective
Contact lens materials are typically based on polymer- or silicone-hydrogel, with additional manufacturing technologies employed to produce the final lens. These processes are simply not enough to meet the increasing demands from CLs and the ever-increasing number of contact lens (CL) users. New materials and engineering offer increasing functionality or improved properties over previous generations.
  • 4.2K
  • 27 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Synthesis of Poly (Butylene Succinate)
The impact of plastics on the environment can be mitigated by employing biobased and/or biodegradable materials (i.e., bioplastics) instead of the traditional “commodities”. In this context, poly (butylene succinate) (PBS) emerges as one of the most promising alternatives due to its good mechanical, thermal, and barrier properties, making it suitable for use in a wide range of applications. Still, the PBS has some drawbacks, such as its high crystallinity, which must be overcome to position it as a real and viable alternative to “commodities”. 
  • 3.8K
  • 25 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Textile Production
The textile production is constantly increasing by offering products to fashion, style and marketing needs, or even to progressively competitive technical challenges. The perspective of innovation and development is in contrast with the highly polluting impact on the surroundings of this industrial activity.
  • 3.7K
  • 09 Feb 2021
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