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Review
. 2021 Aug 27;13(17):2878.
doi: 10.3390/polym13172878.

Current Strategies for the Production of Sustainable Biopolymer Composites

Ehsan Bari  1 , Asghar Sistani  1 , Jeffrey J Morrell  2 , Antonio Pizzi  3 , Mohammad Reza Akbari  4 , Javier Ribera  5
Affiliations
Review

Current Strategies for the Production of Sustainable Biopolymer Composites

Ehsan Bari et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

Rapid global population growth has led to an exponential increase in the use of disposable materials with a short life span that accumulate in landfills. The use of non-biodegradable materials causes severe damage to the environment worldwide. Polymers derived from agricultural residues, wood, or other fiber crops are fully biodegradable, creating the potential to be part of a sustainable circular economy. Ideally, natural fibers, such as the extremely strong fibers from hemp, can be combined with matrix materials such as the core or hurd from hemp or kenaf to produce a completely renewable biomaterial. However, these materials cannot always meet all of the performance attributes required, necessitating the creation of blends of petroleum-based and renewable material-based composites. This article reviews composites made from natural and biodegradable polymers, as well as the challenges encountered in their production and use.

Keywords: biocomposites; biodegradability; circular economy; environmentally friendly.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that this research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interests. No funding sources had any role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Examples of biocomposite applications in automobiles containing flax, hemp, sisal, and wool [26].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Examples of commercial biodegradable composites. (a–c) Building components [35]; (d) furniture [35]; (e) a chicken–soybean oil resin-based composite beam [36]; (f) a paper–soybean oil resin-based composite beam [37]; (g) cosmetic packing [35]; and (h) flower pots [35].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Examples of lignocellulosic reinforcement materials including. (a) banana stem fibers; (b) sugarcane bagasse; (c) curauá; (d) flax; (e) hemp; (f) jute; (g) sisal; and (h) kenaf. Typical reinforcement patterns used in hybrid LC-based biodegradable composite synthesis. (i) Jute fabric; (j) ramie–cotton fabric. (k) jute–cotton fabric. [40].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effect of bamboo content on water absorption of bamboo (B)/plastic (P) composites composed of different plastics. M: mesh size, HT: heat treatment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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