High-Performance Materials from Bio-based Feedstocks The latest advancements in the production, properties, and performance of bio-based feedstock materials In High-Performance Materials from Bio-based Feedstocks, an accomplished team of researchers delivers a comprehensive exploration of recent developments in the research, manufacture, and application of advanced materials from bio-based feedstocks. With coverage of bio-based polymers, the inorganic components of biomass, and the conversion of biomass to advanced materials, the book illustrates the research and commercial potential of new technologies in the area. Real-life applications in areas as diverse as medicine, construction, synthesis, energy storage, agriculture, packaging, and food are discussed in the context of the structural properties of the materials used. The authors offer deep insights into materials production, properties, and performance. Perfect for chemists, environmental scientists, engineers, and materials scientists, High-Performance Materials from Bio-based Feedstocks will also earn a place in the libraries of academics, industrial researchers, and graduate students with an interest in biomass conversion, green chemistry, and sustainability. A thorough introduction to the latest developments in advanced bio-based feedstock materials research Comprehensive explorations of a vast range of real-world applications, from tissue scaffolds and drug delivery to batteries, sorbents, and controlled release fertilizers Practical discussions of the organic and inorganic components of biomass and the conversion of biomass to advanced materials In-depth examinations of the structural properties of commercially and academically significant biomass materials For more information on the Wiley Series in Renewable Resources, visit www.wiley.com/go/rrs

High-Performance Materials from Bio-based Feedstocks The latest advancements in the production, properties, and performance of bio-based feedstock materials In High-Performance Materials from Bio-based Feedstocks, an accomplished team of researchers delivers a comprehensive exploration of recent developments in the research, manufacture, and application of advanced materials from bio-based feedstocks. With coverage of bio-based polymers, the inorganic components of biomass, and the conversion of biomass to advanced materials, the book illustrates the research and commercial potential of new technologies in the area. Real-life applications in areas as diverse as medicine, construction, synthesis, energy storage, agriculture, packaging, and food are discussed in the context of the structural properties of the materials used. The authors offer deep insights into materials production, properties, and performance. Perfect for chemists, environmental scientists, engineers, and materials scientists, High-Performance Materials from Bio-based Feedstocks will also earn a place in the libraries of academics, industrial researchers, and graduate students with an interest in biomass conversion, green chemistry, and sustainability. A thorough introduction to the latest developments in advanced bio-based feedstock materials research Comprehensive explorations of a vast range of real-world applications, from tissue scaffolds and drug delivery to batteries, sorbents, and controlled release fertilizers Practical discussions of the organic and inorganic components of biomass and the conversion of biomass to advanced materials In-depth examinations of the structural properties of commercially and academically significant biomass materials For more information on the Wiley Series in Renewable Resources, visit www.wiley.com/go/rrs

One of the main challenges facing the chemical industry is the transition to sustainable operations. Industries are taking initiatives to reduce resource intensities or footprints, and by adopting safer materials and processes. Such efforts need to be supported by techniques that can quantify the broad economic and environmental implications of industrial operations, retrofi t options and provide new design alternatives. This contemporary overview focuses on cradle-to-grave life cycle assessments of existing or conceptual processes for producing valueadded fuels, chemicals, and/or materials from renewable agricultural residues, plant-derived starches and oils, lignocellulosic biomass, and plant-based industrial processing wastes. It presents the key concepts, systems, and technologies, with an emphasis on new feedstocks for the chemical industry. Each chapter uses common themes of specifi c raw materials, thus forming a natural progression throughout the book. The result is coverage from a wide range of perspectives, emphasizing not only the technical issues but also considering the market place and socio-economic aspects.

Petroleum-based industrial products have gradually replaced products derived from biological materials. However, biologically based products are making a comebackâ€"because of a threefold increase in farm productivity and new technologies. Biobased Industrial Products envisions a biobased industrial future, where starch will be used to make biopolymers and vegetable oils will become a routine component in lubricants and detergents. Biobased Industrial Products overviews the U.S. land resources available for agricultural production, summarizes plant materials currently produced, and describes prospects for increasing varieties and yields. The committee discusses the concept of the biorefinery and outlines proven and potential thermal, mechanical, and chemical technologies for conversion of natural resources to industrial applications. The committee also illustrates the developmental dynamics of biobased products through existing examples, as well as products still on the drawing board, and it identifies priorities for research and development.

The book presents current R&D activities to unravel the physico-chemical properties of diverse biopolymers, and their processing towards functionalised, high-performance bio-products with defined applications. The importance of this research becomes obvious by considering the annual plastic production of about 330 Mt, the lion's share thereof based on the conversion of fossil feedstocks that is highly recalcitrant against biodegradation. Alternative environmentally degradable plastics cover not even 5% of today's plastic market. Such biopolymers encompass various macromolecules of biological origin with diverse monomeric composition, and manifold physico-chemical properties. This structural diversity makes them potential candidates to produce bulk materials, e.g., for packaging purposes, smart functionalised materials in special niches like the biomedical field. Consequently, we witness an increasing trend towards new natural polymers to replace well-established products like plastics. After decades of global R&D developments in this field, and numerous body blows on the way to the anticipated market breakthrough of biopolymers, it is generally recognised that the success of such new materials needs progress in both material performance and production prices. The book Current Advances in Biopolymer Processing & Characterisation is dedicated to the current state-of-the-art of production, modification, characterisation, and processing of two major biopolymer groups: Firstly, polysaccharides, nature's most abundant raw materials, are represented by specialised contributions on biomedical applications of starch and its follow-up products. Polysaccharides were also studied for the examples of functionalised thermoplastic starch, molecular and hydrocolloidal characteristics of xanthan in aqueous environments, and by the design of functionalised xylan-based bio-materials. Secondly, the second series of contributions encompasses diverse biopolyesters. Advanced methods to improve the properties of PLA, fine-tune PLA properties by triggering PLA's crystallisation rate during melt processing, and the strongly emerging field of 3D-printing of PLA, PCL, and microbial PHA are described. Finally, the authors familiarise the reader with the application of mixed microbial cultures to produce PHA heteropolyesters with different thermo-mechanical properties in dependence on cultivation strategy and the microbial species composition. This compilation of new biomaterials with surprising functions and performance, based on these natural polymers will address scientists active in biopolymers production, functionalisation, characterisation, and processing towards bio-technomers. The book is also dedicated to undergraduate students of polymer chemistry and polymer processing, and to representatives of the polymer industry who are interested in developing innovative, sustainable and smart polymeric products. Activities motivated by reading this book shall boost the impatiently desired market penetration of biopolymers and their follow-up products. Such materials definitely display a socioeconomic impact by addressing prevailing ecological concerns such as depleting fossil resources, growing piles of plastic waste, and increasing global warming. The contributions to this book illustrate that bio-inspired remedies for prevalent ecological problems are already available, developed by experts in polymer sciences and engineering, or that these solutions are at least in the status of development.

Today's petrochemical industry is an amazing model of production efficiency, taking crude oil and supplying thousands of discrete chemicals and materials from just seven primary building blocks. Renewable raw materials offer a new set of primary building blocks including carbohydrates in the form of cellulose, starch, homicellulose, and monomeric sugars, aromatics in the form of lignin, hydrocarbons in the form of fatty acids and polyols in the form of glycerol. Yet chemical production today is overwhelmingly dominated by crude oil, principally because conversion technology for renewables still lags far behind that available for nonrenewables. Technology is needed that will lead to renewables based chemical processes that rival or exceed the diversity and efficiency of today's chemical industry. The cellulose and Renewable Materials division (CELL) of American Chemical Society offered a forum for this topic Feedstocks for the Future: Renewables for the production of Chemical and Materials, at the national ACS meeting in Anaheim, CA, March 28-April 1, 2004. This symposium included discussions of emerging conversion technologies for renewable building blocks, new mechanistic understanding of these conversion processes, development of new catalytic processes tailored for renewables, life cycle and process analysis for renewables, and identification of new structures that could serve as platforms for renewables-based product families. The book is intended to have a strong emphasis on organic chemistry, mechanism, and structure, and novel synthesis and production of chemicals, polymers and materials. More specifically, the reader will find information in the following areas: 1) new transformations of carbohydrates to chemicals and polymers 2) novel oleochemical processes; new uses of glycerol and fatty acids 3) transition metal catalyzed transformations of carbohydrates, lignin, fatty acids, glycerol, etc. 4) economic, environmental, and life cycle analysis of chemicals derived from renewables 5) production of new polymeric materials from renewables 6) new biocatalytic transformations of renewable building blocks 7) industrial uses of renewables and renewables based building blocks

Volume is indexed by Thomson Reuters CPCI-S (WoS). This special volume comprises 85 refereed papers. The selection of the papers was based upon the recommendations of the reviewers and the discretion of the editors. In most cases, the accepted papers were further polished to improve their readability.

The development of high-performance bio-based polyimides (PIs) seems a difficult task due to the incompatibility between petrochemical-derived, aromatic monomers and renewable, natural resources. Moreover, their production usually implies less eco-friendly experimental conditions, especially in terms of solvents and thermal conditions. In this chapter, we touch some of the most significant research endeavors that were devoted in the last decade to engineering naturally derived PI building blocks based on nontoxic, bio-renewable feedstocks. In most cases, the structural motifs of natural products are modified toward amine functionalities that are then used in classical or nonconventional methods for PI synthesis. We follow their evolution as viable alternatives to traditional starting compounds and prove they are able to generate eco-friendly PI materials that retain a combination of high-performance characteristics, or even bring some novel, enhanced features to the field. At the same time, serious progress has been made in the field of nonconventional synthetic and processing options for the development of PI-based materials. Greener experimental conditions such as ionic liquids, supercritical fluids, microwaves, and geothermal techniques represent feasible routes and reduce the negative environmental footprint of PIs,Äô development. We also approach some insights regarding the sustainability, degradation, and recycling of PI-based materials.