(such as carrageenan, chitosan, starch, alginate), and
lipids (such as wax and fatty acids).
(ii) Chemical synthesis by using biomass and even oil
such as poly(e-caprolactone), polylactic acid, and
poly(vinyl alcohol) [PVA].
(iii) Microbial fermentation such as bacterial cellulose and
poly(b-hydroxybutyrate).
Many of these polymers have the advantage of being
biodegradable, highly available, cheapness, and consequently are proper candidates to be applied in different fields
including food packaging technology, medical areas, electronics, etc. (Ibrahim et al. 2019). In another classification
based on their constituent monomer, they are categorized as
follows (Ibrahim et al. 2019; Gowthami and Angayarkanny
2019):
(i) Polynucleotides with nucleotides as the monomer.
(ii) Polypeptides with amino acids as the monomer.
(iii) Polyphenols or polyhydroxyphenols with the large
phenolic structures as the monomer.
(iv) Polysaccharides with monosaccharides as the
monomer.
Among the mentioned four groups of biopolymers, the
later stands out. Polysaccharides are the most abundant
biopolymers within the biosphere (Bagal‐Kestwal et al.
2019). Hitherto, many attempts have been made to make this
class of biopolymers more appropriate for the specific uses.
Their usage as the matrix for the preparation of a wide range
of bionanocomposites has been addressed in a lot of studies.
On the other side, polysaccharide-based nanomaterials such
as nanocellulose, nanochitin, and nanostarch are supposed as
the new and favorable generation of nanoreinforcements in
the preparation of bionanocomposites. In the rest of this
chapter, the focus will be on different synthesis strategies for
the bionanocomposites derived from polysaccharides and
evaluation of their applications.
3 Polysaccharides
Polysaccharides are macromolecules composed of
monosaccharides connected via glycosidic bonds and their
degree of polymerization is commonly more than 100
(Ibrahim et al. 2019). They could be monofunctional or
contain plenty of functional groups such as –OH, –CONH 2 ,
–SO 3 , –NH 2 , and –COOH and are capable to be in different
forms, e.g., films, microspheres, membranes, hydrogel, and
gel (Gowthami and Angayarkanny 2019; Pooresmaeil and
Namazi 2020). There are several ways for classification of
the polysaccharides; they could be sorted by their structure
(linear or branched), their monomeric units (homoglycans,
diheteroglycans, triheteroglucans, tetraheteroglycans, pentaheteroglycans), and finally by their charge (neutral, anionic,
or cationic) (BeMiller 2018). As an advantage, they have
higher thermal stability in comparison to other biopolymers
(Gowthami and Angayarkanny 2019). Polysaccharides are
diverse in source and a brief review has been done in
Table 1.
Figure 1 shows the number of published documents per
year from 2000 to 2021 recorded from the Scopus website
with keyword of applications of polysaccharides.
4 Bionanocomposites
Bionanocomposites, which are composed of bio-based
materials have been introduced to the world as a new generation of hybrid nanostructures and are commonly known
as a proper replacement for the petroleum-based nanocomposites (Visakh 2019; Ilyas et al. 2020). Apart from taking
into account of the sustainability issue (Ma et al. 2016), they
have the advantage of biocompatibility and biodegradability
(Visakh 2019). Bionanocomposites can be divided into different categories; they may have a petroleum-based polymer
embedded with renewable nanoparticles; in another case, a
biopolymer may be used with incorporation of synthetic or
inorganic nanoparticles, and finally in the third case both
polymer matrix and nanoparticle may be provided from
renewable resources (Arora et al. 2018).
Apart from their outstanding features, polysaccharides
may present some shortcomings like limited barrier and
mechanical properties in their unmodified form. These
problems could be solved by their usage in the form of
bionanocomposites (Mallakpour and Khodadadzadeh 2020).
They are known as the group of natural materials, which are
mostly addressed in the preparation of bionanocomposites.
These types of bionanocomposites have a wide range of
applications. In the following, the synthesis of bionanocomposites using polysaccharides along with their
applications will be discussed.
5 Synthesis and Applications
of Polysaccharide-Derived
Bionanocomposites
5.1 Packaging
In recent years, green packaging has become an important
topic of both academic and industrial research. Herein,
biodegradation and mineralization are among the most
important criteria to choose materials for different packaging
purposes (Ilyas et al. 2020). A wide variety of biopolymers
are used in this regard including lipids, proteins, and
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S. Mallakpour and M. Naghdi
lipids (such as wax and fatty acids).
(ii) Chemical synthesis by using biomass and even oil
such as poly(e-caprolactone), polylactic acid, and
poly(vinyl alcohol) [PVA].
(iii) Microbial fermentation such as bacterial cellulose and
poly(b-hydroxybutyrate).
Many of these polymers have the advantage of being
biodegradable, highly available, cheapness, and consequently are proper candidates to be applied in different fields
including food packaging technology, medical areas, electronics, etc. (Ibrahim et al. 2019). In another classification
based on their constituent monomer, they are categorized as
follows (Ibrahim et al. 2019; Gowthami and Angayarkanny
2019):
(i) Polynucleotides with nucleotides as the monomer.
(ii) Polypeptides with amino acids as the monomer.
(iii) Polyphenols or polyhydroxyphenols with the large
phenolic structures as the monomer.
(iv) Polysaccharides with monosaccharides as the
monomer.
Among the mentioned four groups of biopolymers, the
later stands out. Polysaccharides are the most abundant
biopolymers within the biosphere (Bagal‐Kestwal et al.
2019). Hitherto, many attempts have been made to make this
class of biopolymers more appropriate for the specific uses.
Their usage as the matrix for the preparation of a wide range
of bionanocomposites has been addressed in a lot of studies.
On the other side, polysaccharide-based nanomaterials such
as nanocellulose, nanochitin, and nanostarch are supposed as
the new and favorable generation of nanoreinforcements in
the preparation of bionanocomposites. In the rest of this
chapter, the focus will be on different synthesis strategies for
the bionanocomposites derived from polysaccharides and
evaluation of their applications.
3 Polysaccharides
Polysaccharides are macromolecules composed of
monosaccharides connected via glycosidic bonds and their
degree of polymerization is commonly more than 100
(Ibrahim et al. 2019). They could be monofunctional or
contain plenty of functional groups such as –OH, –CONH 2 ,
–SO 3 , –NH 2 , and –COOH and are capable to be in different
forms, e.g., films, microspheres, membranes, hydrogel, and
gel (Gowthami and Angayarkanny 2019; Pooresmaeil and
Namazi 2020). There are several ways for classification of
the polysaccharides; they could be sorted by their structure
(linear or branched), their monomeric units (homoglycans,
diheteroglycans, triheteroglucans, tetraheteroglycans, pentaheteroglycans), and finally by their charge (neutral, anionic,
or cationic) (BeMiller 2018). As an advantage, they have
higher thermal stability in comparison to other biopolymers
(Gowthami and Angayarkanny 2019). Polysaccharides are
diverse in source and a brief review has been done in
Table 1.
Figure 1 shows the number of published documents per
year from 2000 to 2021 recorded from the Scopus website
with keyword of applications of polysaccharides.
4 Bionanocomposites
Bionanocomposites, which are composed of bio-based
materials have been introduced to the world as a new generation of hybrid nanostructures and are commonly known
as a proper replacement for the petroleum-based nanocomposites (Visakh 2019; Ilyas et al. 2020). Apart from taking
into account of the sustainability issue (Ma et al. 2016), they
have the advantage of biocompatibility and biodegradability
(Visakh 2019). Bionanocomposites can be divided into different categories; they may have a petroleum-based polymer
embedded with renewable nanoparticles; in another case, a
biopolymer may be used with incorporation of synthetic or
inorganic nanoparticles, and finally in the third case both
polymer matrix and nanoparticle may be provided from
renewable resources (Arora et al. 2018).
Apart from their outstanding features, polysaccharides
may present some shortcomings like limited barrier and
mechanical properties in their unmodified form. These
problems could be solved by their usage in the form of
bionanocomposites (Mallakpour and Khodadadzadeh 2020).
They are known as the group of natural materials, which are
mostly addressed in the preparation of bionanocomposites.
These types of bionanocomposites have a wide range of
applications. In the following, the synthesis of bionanocomposites using polysaccharides along with their
applications will be discussed.
5 Synthesis and Applications
of Polysaccharide-Derived
Bionanocomposites
5.1 Packaging
In recent years, green packaging has become an important
topic of both academic and industrial research. Herein,
biodegradation and mineralization are among the most
important criteria to choose materials for different packaging
purposes (Ilyas et al. 2020). A wide variety of biopolymers
are used in this regard including lipids, proteins, and
194
S. Mallakpour and M. Naghdi