In nature, cellulose, lignocellulose and lignin are major sources of plant biomass; therefore, their recycling is indispensable for the carbon cycle. Each polymer is degraded by a variety of microorganisms which produce a battery of enzymes that work synergically. In the near future, processes that use lignocellulolytic enzymes or are based on microorganisms could lead to new, environmentally f...

Polysaccharides possess the highest industrial capacity for adsorbents that can be useful as eco-friendly materials for water treatment, due to their prevalence [1–3]. Polysaccharides are stereoregular (natural) polymers of monosaccharides (sugars) also referred to as biopolymers. They are unique raw materials because they are inexpensive and widely available in many countries in the world. The...

Research has shown that many Bentonite in Nigeria are unsuitable for oil well drilling in their natural states. Their modification and blends with some additives could increase the yield and boost their suitability. Many indigenous polymers have become very popular due to environmental friendliness and their ability to modify rheology of clay suspension. However, the common natural polymers are...

One of the critical components of the mechanisms of cell communication and cell computing has been postulated to be spaceand time-organized teleonomic (or goaldirected) shape changes of biopolymers that are driven by exergonic chemical reactions catalyzed by biopolymer shape changes themselves. The generalized Franck-Condon principle resolves the apparent paradox arising when a coupling is atte...

Tunable biopolymers based on elastin-like polypeptides (ELP) were engineered for the selective removal of mercury. ELP undergoes a reversible thermal precipitation within a wide range of temperatures and was exploited to enable easy recovery of the sequestered mercury. A bacterial metalloregulatory protein, MerR, which binds mercury with an unusually high affinity and selectivity, was fused to ...

Plastics are low molecular weight organic materials, that are non degradable in the natural environment. Generation of plastic waste constitutes a major part of Municipal Solid Waste. This creates a lot of environment pollution, which in turn affects ecosystem and human health. The solution to tackle this dreadful situation lies in following 3R namely Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Waste plastics c...

Biofouling and scaling on reverse osmosis (RO) or nanofiltration (NF) membranes during desalination of secondary and tertiary effluents pose an obstacle that limits the reuse of wastewater. In this study we explored the mineral scaling induced by biopolymers originated from bacterial biofilms: bovine serum albumin (BSA), fibrinogen, lysozyme and alginic acid, as well as an extracts of extracell...

This chapter offers an overview of the biopolymer-based lightweight materials with respect to their potential for packaging applications. The biopolymer-based materials have garnered increasing attention to packaging market due to the concerns from both environmental and economical perspectives of traditional petroleum based polymers in recent years. The largely use of these traditional synthet...

conclusions although quince seeds dried mucilage by lyophilization had less yield amounts yet in view of purity and physicochemical and mechanical properties, it was significantly better than mucilage prepared by the oven method (p < 0.05). results the yield value of mucilage from the warm method was about three folds greater than the amount from the cold method. the phytochemical, physicochemi...