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Review
. 2024 Oct 28;16(21):3015.
doi: 10.3390/polym16213015.

Bio-Based and Biodegradable Polymeric Materials for a Circular Economy

Víctor Oliver-Cuenca  1 , Valentina Salaris  1 , Pedro Francisco Muñoz-Gimena  1 , Ángel Agüero  2   3 , Mercedes A Peltzer  4   5 , Victoria Alcázar Montero  3   6 , Marina P Arrieta  3   6 , Jaume Sempere-Torregrosa  7 , Cristina Pavon  7 , Maria Dolores Samper  7 , Gema Rodríguez Crespo  1 , Jose M Kenny  8 , Daniel López  1 , Laura Peponi  1
Affiliations
Review

Bio-Based and Biodegradable Polymeric Materials for a Circular Economy

Víctor Oliver-Cuenca et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

Nowadays, plastic contamination worldwide is a concerning reality that can be addressed with appropriate society education as well as looking for innovative polymeric alternatives based on the reuse of waste and recycling with a circular economy point of view, thus taking into consideration that a future world without plastic is quite impossible to conceive. In this regard, in this review, we focus on sustainable polymeric materials, biodegradable and bio-based polymers, additives, and micro/nanoparticles to be used to obtain new environmentally friendly polymeric-based materials. Although biodegradable polymers possess poorer overall properties than traditional ones, they have gained a huge interest in many industrial sectors due to their inherent biodegradability in natural environments. Therefore, several strategies have been proposed to improve their properties and extend their industrial applications. Blending strategies, as well as the development of composites and nanocomposites, have shown promising perspectives for improving their performances, emphasizing biopolymeric blend formulations and bio-based micro and nanoparticles to produce fully sustainable polymeric-based materials. The Review also summarizes recent developments in polymeric blends, composites, and nanocomposite plasticization, with a particular focus on naturally derived plasticizers and their chemical modifications to increase their compatibility with the polymeric matrices. The current state of the art of the most important bio-based and biodegradable polymers is also reviewed, mainly focusing on their synthesis and processing methods scalable to the industrial sector, such as melt and solution blending approaches like melt-extrusion, injection molding, film forming as well as solution electrospinning, among others, without neglecting their degradation processes.

Keywords: bio-based polymers; biodegradable polymers; circular economy; degradation; nanocomposites; nanoparticles; natural polymers; plasticizers; processing; revalorization; sustainable polymers.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Different classes of polymers.
Scheme 1
Scheme 1
Review contents.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Classification of sustainable polymers according to their sources.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Global production capacities of biodegradable/compostable plastics by material type in 2023, adapted from European-Bioplastics-Association, 2023.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Nanofiller geometries and their respective surface area-to-volume ratios. (a) two-dimensional (2D); (b) one-dimensional (1D); and (c) zero-dimensional (0D) nanofillers.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Number of publications of PLA blends (Scopus Source up to June 2024).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Synthetic routes of PLA synthesis, adapted from [49].
Figure 7
Figure 7
SEM images of (a) PLA random nanofibers and (b) PLA-aligned nanofibers.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Synthesis of PBAT.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Number of publications of PBAT blends (Scopus Source up to June 2024).
Figure 10
Figure 10
PHAs general structure.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Number of publications of PHB blends (Scopus Source up to June 2024).
Figure 12
Figure 12
Number of publications of PHBV blends (Scopus Source up to June 2024).
Figure 13
Figure 13
Schematic representation of PHBV production (a) in H. amylolyticum and (b) R. eutropha [241].
Figure 14
Figure 14
PHB degradation by Microbulbifer sp. SOL66 [308].
Figure 15
Figure 15
Number of publications of TPS blends (Scopus Source up to June 2024).
Figure 16
Figure 16
Starch microstructural changes under treatment with plasticizers or water [332].
Figure 17
Figure 17
Schematic representation of an acid hydrolysis process to obtain SNCs.
Figure 18
Figure 18
Number of publications of starch nanocrystals (Scopus Source up to June 2024).
Figure 19
Figure 19
Classical process to obtain nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC). Reprinted from Missoum et al., 2013 [387] under Creative Commons CC BY license.
Figure 20
Figure 20
Schematic representation of pre-treatment, purification steps of the raw materials and CNC. Adapted from. Arrieta et al. [378].
Figure 21
Figure 21
Number of publications of cellulose blends (Scopus Source up to June 2024).
Figure 22
Figure 22
The classical process to obtain kombucha microbial cellulose. Reprinted from Agüero et al. [384] under Creative Commons CC BY license.
Figure 23
Figure 23
CNC functionalization with PLLA by “grafting from” reaction.
Figure 24
Figure 24
Number of publications of cellulose nanocrystals (Scopus Source up to June 2024).
Figure 25
Figure 25
Monoligols present on the structure of lignin: (a) p-cumaryl alcohol and p-hydroxyphenyl; (b) coniferyl alcohol and guaiacyl; (c) sinapyl alcohol and syringyl and (d) lignin structure.
Figure 26
Figure 26
Different pretreatment methods for lignocellulosic biomass.
Figure 27
Figure 27
Schematic representation of the production of lignocellulosic nanoparticles from yerba mate wastes through an aqueous extraction procedure.
Figure 28
Figure 28
Number of publications of lignin blends (Scopus Source up to June 2024).
Figure 29
Figure 29
Different mechanisms for the insertion of new chemical active sites on lignin.
Figure 30
Figure 30
Different mechanisms for the functionalization of hydroxyl groups on lignin.
Figure 31
Figure 31
Number of publications of chitosan blends (Scopus Source up to June 2024).
Figure 32
Figure 32
Chemical structure of Chitosan and process of transformation into a polycationic electrolyte.
Figure 33
Figure 33
Chemical structure of gelatin.
Figure 34
Figure 34
Number of publications of gelatin blends (Scopus Source up June 2024) (1968–2024).
Figure 35
Figure 35
PBS structure.
Figure 36
Figure 36
Number of publications of PBS blends (Scopus Source up to June 2024).
Figure 37
Figure 37
Acrylic, methacrylic, and itaconic acid structure, respectively.
Figure 38
Figure 38
Schematic representation of the triglyceride molecule (1) and different chemical modifications: maleinization (2), epoxidation (3), and acrylation (4).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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