Sustainable Biomass Materials for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

Renewable resources are abundant worldwide in the form of raw materials, which come from terrestrial/marine animals, agricultural plants, microorganisms, and their residues. Sustainable biomass materials derived from these raw materials have provided an opening for the development of new alternatives to replace traditional petro-materials for a variety of purposes, including green energy, paint, food packaging, and biomedical applications. In this Review, we highlight the potential use of various sustainable biomass materials in three-dimensional/four-dimensional bioprinting, drug delivery/controlled release, tissue engineering, and biosensing applications. We then discuss the features of sustainable biomass materials in association with the basic requirements of these applications, such as printability, sensitivity, mechanical properties, and modifiability. We finally conclude with future perspectives.

Keywords: 3D/4D bioprinting; biosensors; controlled release; drug delivery; sustainable biomass materials; tissue engineering.