Smart Biopolymers and their Applications

Abstract

Over the last few decades, polymers have gained lots of importance in everyday life due to their unique properties and wide range of applications. In recent years, biopolymers have received attention due to their features like biodegradability, biocompatibility, renewability, and inexpensiveness. They are also used as smart and active materials in medicine, the food industry, etc., as they exhibit responsiveness to factors like temperature, pH, humidity, light, electrical and magnetic fields, etc. Therefore, this chapter emphasizes an in-depth analysis of various techniques and methodologies employed in the preparation of smart biopolymers, their characterization, applications, and the challenges associated with their development and utilization.

Keywords: Active-biopolymer, Bioengineering, Drug delivery, Edible coating, Functional food, Plastic pollutions, Protein nanoparticles, Renewable materials, Sustainable materials, Smart-biopolymers, Tissue engineering.