Nano/Micro-Structural Supramolecular Biopolymers: Innovative Networks with the Boundless Potential in Sustainable Agriculture

Sustainable agriculture plays a crucial role in meeting the growing global demand for food while minimizing adverse environmental impacts from the overuse of synthetic pesticides and conventional fertilizers.In this context,renewable biopolymers being more sustainable offer a viable solution to improve agricultural sustainability and production.Nano/micro-structural supramolecular biopolymers are among these innovative biopolymers that are much sought after for their unique features.These biomaterials have complex hierarchical structures,great stability,adjustable mechanical strength,stimuli-responsiveness,and self-healing attributes.Functional molecules may be added to their flexible structure,for enabling novel agricultural uses.This overview scrutinizes how nano/micro-structural supramolecular biopolymers may radically alter farming practices and solve lingering problems in agricultural sector namely improve agricultural production,soil health,and resource efficiency.Controlled bioactive ingredient released from biopolymers allows the tailored administration of agrochemicals,bioactive agents,and biostimulators as they enhance nutrient absorption,moisture retention,and root growth.Nano/micro-structural supramolecular biopolymers may protect crops by appending antimicrobials and biosensing entities while their eco-friendliness supports sustainable agriculture.Despite their potential,further studies are warranted to understand and optimize their usage in agricultural domain.This effort seeks to bridge the knowledge gap by investigating their applications,challenges,and future prospects in the agricultural sector.Through experimental investigations and theoretical modeling,this overview aims to provide valuable insights into the practical implementation and optimization of supramolecular biopolymers in sustainable agriculture,ultimately contributing to the development of innovative and eco-friendly solutions to enhance agricultural productivity while minimizing environmental impact.

Use of biopolymers in wastewater treatment:A brief review of current trends and prospects

Indeed,polymeric materials have thrived in worldwide sectors over the last five decades due to their versatility and durability,to the point that we can no longer envisage a product that does not contain them.However,many synthetic polymers that have been produced are mostly sourced from petroleum and coal as raw materials,making them environmentally incompatible because they cannot be integrated with what is a natural recycling system.One of the most important aspects of the transition to a circular bioeconomy(CBE)is the provision of more sustainable strategies for resource and waste management.Considering the environmental consequences associated with petroleum-based polymers(PBPs),natural biopolymers,originating from biomass,can be conceived as a promising solution to gradually replace the PBPs,and address,and resolve the potential challenges and prevailing research gaps in the PBPs.The biopolymers have significant advantages over PBPs in terms of low-cost/zero-cost precursors,environmental friendliness,and user-friendliness.The present review dissects the sources,synthesis pathways,structures,characterization,and employment of biopolymers and their composites in water and wastew-ater treatment applications via different scenarios.Furthermore,the CBE model framework proposes potential approaches to applying CBE principles in the wastewater management sector,with a heavy emphasis on not only technology but also organizational and societal reforms.To sum up,the reliance on biopolymers can be considered a crucial tool for assessing the global progress toward CBE,as well as future environmental management and planning.

Tailoring Food Biopolymers into Biogels for Regenerative Wound Healing and Versatile Skin Bioelectronics

An increasing utilization of wound-related therapeutic materials and skin bioelectronics urges the development of multifunctional biogels for personal therapy and health management.Nevertheless,conventional dressings and skin bioelectronics with single function,mechanical mismatches,and impracticality severely limit their widespread applications in clinical.Herein,we explore a gelling mechanism,fabrication method,and functionalization for broadly applicable food biopolymers-based biogels that unite the challenging needs of elastic yet injectable wound dressing and skin bioelectronics in a single system.We combine our biogels with functional nanomaterials,such as cuttlefish ink nanoparticles and silver nanowires,to endow the biogels with reactive oxygen species scavenging capacity and electrical conductivity,and finally realized the improvement in diabetic wound microenvironment and the monitoring of electrophysiological signals on skin.This line of research work sheds light on preparing food biopolymers-based biogels with multifunctional integration of wound treatment and smart medical treatment.

Effects of trapping number on biopolymer flooding recovery of carbonate reservoirs

The effects of trapping number on enhanced oil recovery by schizophyllan biopolymer flooding in carbonate reservoirs were investigated by running several 1D simulations using measured reservoir rock and fluid data.Sensitivity analysis was performed on different uncertain parameters to history match the oil recovery obtained in the core flooding experiment.These parameters include inaccessible pore volume(IPV),biopolymer adsorption,permeability reduction factor,shear rate coefficient,hardness of injection water,and trapping number.The IPV,biopolymer adsorption,permeability reduction factor,shear rate coefficient and hardness of injection water have negligible effects on oil recovery by biopolymer flooding.Also,history matching of oil recovery data was not possible when these parameters were varied within their typical range of values.When trapping number effect was considered through capillary desaturation curve(CDC),residual oil saturation was reduced from 25.1%without considering its effect or under low trapping number to 10.0%,and the fitting effect for recovery was better.Therefore,we can’t neglect the trapping number effect during biopolymer flooding simulation in the carbonate reservoirs.

The Separation Efficiency of Biopolymers with Short Column in Liquid Chromatography

The separation efficiency of biopolymers with a short column in liquid chromatography has been investigated in this paper. It was found that the column length has slight effect on the resolution of biopolymers under gradient elution. The reasons have been explained by stoichiometric displacement model for retention of solute. The column 1.0 cm long was also used in the separation and purification of recombinant human granulocyte colony-simulating factor (rhG-CSF). It only took 40 min and the purity by one step was found to be almost 100%.

Improving the Unconfined Compressive Strength of Red Clay by Combining Biopolymers with Fibers

To explore an environmentally friendly improvement measure for red clay,the function and mechanism of xanthan gum biopolymer and polypropylene fibers on the strength properties of red clay were investigated by unconfined compressive strength and scanning electron microscopy tests.The test results demonstrated that the contents and curing ages of xanthan gum had significant influences on the unconfined compressive strength of red clay.Compared with untreated soil,1.5%xanthan gum content was the optimal ratio in which the strength increment was between 41.52 kPa and 64.73 kPa.On the other hand,the strength of xanthan gum-treated red clay increased,whereas the ductility decreased with the increase in curing ages,indicating that the xanthan gum-treated red clay started to gradually consolidate after 3 days of curing and stiffness significantly improved between 7 and 28 days of curing.The results also showed that the synergistic consolidation effects of the xanthan gum–polypropylene fibers could not only effectively enhance the strength of red clay but also reduce the brittle failure phenomenon.The strengths of soil treated with 2.0%xanthan gum-polypropylene fibers were 1.9–2.41 and 1.12–1.47 times than that of red clay and 1.5%xanthan gum-treated clay,respectively.The results of study provide the related methods and experiences for the field of ecological soil treatment.

Ion-ion reactions for charge reduction of biopolymer at atmospheric pressure ambient

Extractive electrospray ionization source （EESI） was adapted for ion-ion reaction, which was demonstrated by using a linear quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer for the first ion-ion reaction of biopolymers in the atmospheric pressure ambient.

Enhancement in Thermal Stability of Polyoxymethylene (POM)-Based Biopolymer Blend Materials

In this study, we demonstrate the enhancement in thermal stability of polyoxymethylene (POM)-based biopolymer blend materials. Polyoxymethylene (POM)/Polylactic acid (PLA) blends have been used as alternative biopolymer materials for supporting environmental problems with thermal stability feature. The effects on POM biopolymer blend materials with a controlled PLA amount in their compositions under various injection conditions, were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic mechanical analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. The POM/PLA biopolymer blend materials showed POM phase acted as a homogeneous nucleating site for increasing PLA crystallization, which improves storage modulus of the blend materials. The decomposition temperatures of POM/PLA biopolymer blends tend to shift around 30˚C - 50˚C lower compared to the decomposition temperatures of PLA. Thus, the decomposition temperature behavior of POM/PLA blends seems to be closer to POM. The suitable ratio in POM70/PLA30 resulted in the high strength of the blend materials. The POM/PLA biopolymer blend material was tested at various injection speeds and good miscibility was obtained at an injection speed of 100 mm/s. This enhancement of thermal stability in POM/PLA blend materials should be useful in the development of high-performance bio-based thermoplastic materials.

Study on Performance Regulation and Mechanism of Quicklime and Biopolymer on Hemihydrate Phosphogypsum

In order to reduce the influence of impurities in hemihydrate phosphogypsum(HPG)on the environment and improve the workability of HPG,the effects of the content of quicklime and types of biopolymer(hydroxypropyl methylcellulose,xanthan gum,sodium polyacrylate(PAANa))on the compressive strength,softening coefficient and ultrasonic velocity of HPG were evaluated.When the content of quicklime was 1.5%and the content of PAA-Na was 0.2%,HPG had the best mechanical properties and workability,its water retention rate can be increased by 5.8%,and unconfined compressive strength of 3 days increased by 10.3%and 7 days increased by 13.1%.Through the analysis of scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction,it was found that the hydration reac-tion of HPG was more sufficient,the pores size and number decreased,the number of impurities on the crystal surface decreased obviously,and CaF2 and other substances were formed by the reaction after the addition of quicklime.After adding quicklime and PAANa,the indicators of gypsum self-leveling mortar prepared by HPG meet the requirements of the standard.

Biopolymer passivation for high-performance perovskite solar cells by blade coating

Thin films of perovskite deposited from solution inevitably introduce large number of defects,which serve as recombination centers and are detrimental for solar cell performance.Although many small molecules and polymers have been delicately designed to migrate defects of perovskite films,exploiting credible passivation agents based on natural materials would offer an alternative approach.Here,an ecofriendly and cost-effective biomaterial,ploy-L-lysine(PLL),is identified to effectively passivate the defects of perovskite films prepared by blade-coating.It is found that incorporation of a small amount(2.5 mg mL^(-1))of PLL significantly boosts the performance of printed devices,yielding a high efficiency of 19.45% with an increase in open-circuit voltage by up to 100 mV.Density functional theory calculations combined with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveal that the functional groups(-NH2,-COOH)of PLL effectively migrate the Pb-I antisite defects via Pb-N coordination and suppress the formation of metallic Pb in the blade-coated perovskite film.This work suggests a viable avenue to exploit passivation agents from natural materials for preparation of high-quality perovskite layers for optoelectronic applications.

Conceptual Design and Selection of Natural Fibre Reinforced Biopolymer Composite (NFBC) Takeout Food Container

Biopolymer composite has gained huge attention for its beneficial properties such as biodegradable and less impact to the environment.This consequently would diminish the dependency on the petroleum-based polymer.Abundance of studies have been done on the development and characterization of biopolymer composite materials for food packaging application,but work on the conceptual design of biopolymer composite packaging product is hardly found.Using the Kano Model,Quality Function Deployment for Environment(QFDE),morphological map,and Analytic Hierarchy Method(AHP)framework combination,this paper presents the conceptual design of a natural fibre reinforced biopolymer composites take-out food container.To understand customer satisfaction with the current use of takeout food containers,the Kano model was applied,and the findings were integrated into QFDE.The highest weight of voices of customer and environment(VOCE)as the solution parameters for the design characteristics were later refined using the aid of morphological chart(MC)to systematically develop conceptual designs.Lastly,AHP was utilized to pick the final concept design.The concept design with the highest score(8.3%)was chosen as the final conceptual design.

Systematically Monitoring,Relational Database and Technology Roadmapping for Trends and Innovation Opportunities in Biopolymers

In recent years environmental and sustainability concerns have impacted the global chemical industry and instituted a rush to produce products from renewable raw materials.This dynamic,complex and turbulent organizational scenario,around themes touching on the issue of sustainable development model,was created involving a large number of different actors:chemical/petrochemical industries,agroindustry companies,oil/gas companies,brand owners and end users,biotechnology startups,governments,universities and society.This paper proposed the application of a structured and dynamic method of technological prediction for biopolymers in three levels:systematic monitoring process,relational database and the“alive”Technology Roadmapping visualization tool.The main objective is to identify strategic actions,business models,the latest´s technologies in development,as well as trends in the field of biopolymers in order to support companies on position themselves in this competitive scenario.Furthermore,companies,universities,government agencies and institutions could apply this dynamic and alive methodology to indeed access innovation opportunities,challenges and threats for different industrial segments and to provide dynamic knowledge management collaborating to their strategy including a database crossing for the all organization.

The Oleic Acid Composition Effect on the Carboxymethyl Cellulose Based Biopolymer Electrolyte

Biopolymer electrolyte based on carboxymethyl cellulose has been prepared by doping with different concentration of oleic acid via solution casting technique. Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy was used to study the complexation between the salt and polymer. New peak was observed at 1710, 2850, 2920 cm-1. X-ray diffraction study reveals the amorphous nature of the biopolymer electrolyte. Impedance study shows the highest ionic conductivity, σ, was found to be 2.11 × 10-5 S·cm-1 at room temperature (303 K) for sample containing 20 wt.% of oleic acid and the biopolymer electrolyte obeys Arrhenius behaviour.

Biopolymer Films and Coatings in Packaging Applications--A Review of Recent Developments

This review covers the recent developments in the field of biobased packaging materials. Special emphasis is placed on the barrier properties, which are crucial in terms of food packaging. The state-of-the-art of several biopolymers including pectin, starch, chitosan, xylan, galactoglucomannan, lignin and cellulose nanofibrils is discussed. As in most cases the packaging related properties of single layer biopolymer films are inadequate, the thin film coatings, such as sol-gel and ALD (atomic layer deposition), as well as the multilayer coatings are also briefly touched.

Poly [ (chloromethyl) styrene-co-divinylbenzene] Continuous Rod Column of Weak Cation Exchange Chromatography and its Applications in the Separation of Biopolymers

Macroporous poly [(chloromethyl) styrene-co-divinylbenzene] continuous rod was prepared by direct polymerization of the monomers in the presence of a porogenic diluent inside an empty chromatographic column. A new 'in-situ' technique was used to modify the synthesized polymer rod for a weak cation exchanger and it has been used successfully for the separation of biopolymers. It was found that the back pressure of the continuous rod column was much lower and its surface was proved to be modified well.

Modified wool-iron biopolymer-based complex as an active heterogeneous decontamination photocatalyst

A series of biopolymer based complex were manufactured by coordinating iron ions to the abundant amino-and sulfur-containing groups in the modified wool and used as heterogeneous Fenton-like photocatalyst for 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) degradation in the presence of H2O2. Hydroxylamine hydrochloride (NH2OH center dot HCl) or acrylic acid was employed to modify the natural wool to strengthen the interaction with iron and to reinforce the structural stability. The NH2OH center dot HCl modified wool based complex showed the best catalytic performance for 4-CP degradation. The strong coordination between iron and great number of hydroxamic acid in this modified complex leads to the least iron leaching during the tests. HO center dot species was confirmed to be the dominant reactive oxidant in the decontamination process. The approach presented in this study can provide a new approach for developing novel bioployermer-based photocatalysts for efficient degradation of toxic organic pollutants such as 4-CP. (C) 2016 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press. All rights reserved.

Biopolymer Entering into and Escaping from a Nanometer Pore

We theoretically investigated negative entropy S of biopolymer which passes through a nanometer pore（such as a-hemolysin）, especially entering process and escaping process, on the basis of which we also studied biopolymer entering-pore time rent, biopolymer entering mean velocity Vent, biopolymer escaping-pore time resc, and biopolymer escaping mean velocity vesc, respectively. Our results illustrate that the entering and escaping processes of biopolymer depend on its negative entropy, and entering process is more difficult than escaping process for biopolymer translocation. This tremendous difference between the two processes will offer a useful engineering hint for single macromolecule identification.

Stretching instability of intrinsically curved semiflexible biopolymers:A lattice model approach

We apply a Monte Carlo simulation method to lattice systems to study the effect of an intrinsic curvature on the mechanical property of a semiflexible biopolymer.We find that when the intrinsic curvature is sufficiently large,the extension of a semiflexible biopolymer can undergo a first-order transition at finite temperature.The critical force increases with increasing intrinsic curvature.However,the relationship between the critical force and the bending rigidity is structuredependent.In a triangle lattice system,when the intrinsic curvature is smaller than a critical value,the critical force increases with the increasing bending rigidity first,and then decreases with the increasing bending rigidity.In a square lattice system,however,the critical force always decreases with the increasing bending rigidity.In contrast,when the intrinsic curvature is greater than the critical value,the larger bending rigidity always results in a larger critical force in both lattice systems.

Variational approximation methods for long-range force transmission in biopolymer gels

The variational principle of minimum free energy(MFEVP) has been widely used in research of soft matter statics.The MFEVP can be used not only to derive equilibrium equations(including both bulk equations and boundary conditions),but also to develop direct variational methods(such as Ritz method) to find approximate solutions to these equilibrium equations. We apply these variational methods to study long-range force transmission in nonlinear elastic biopolymer gels.It is shown that the slow decay of cell-induced displacements measured experimentally for fibroblast spheroids in threedimensional fibrin gels can be well explained by variational approximations based on the three-chain model of biopolymer gels.

Thermal properties of a two-dimensional intrinsically curved semiflexible biopolymer

We study the behaviors of mean end-to-end distance and specific heat of a two-dimensional intrinsically curved semiflexible biopolymer with a hard-core excluded volume interaction. We find the mean square end-to-end distance R2 N∝ Nβ at large N, with N being the number of monomers. Bothβ and proportional constant are dependent on the reduced bending rigidity κ and intrinsic curvature c. The larger the c, the smaller the proportional constant, and 1.5 ≥β ≥ 1. Up to a moderate κ = κc, or down to a moderate temperature T = Tc, β = 1.5, the same as that of a self-avoiding random walk, and the larger the intrinsic curvature, the smaller the κc. However, at a large κ or a low temperature,β is close to 1, and the conformation of the biopolymer can be more compact than that of a random walk. There is an intermediate regime with 1.5 〉β 〉 1 and the transition fromβ = 1.5 toβ= 1 is smooth. The specific heat of the system increases smoothly with increasing κ or there is no peak in the specific heat. Therefore, a nonvanishing intrinsic curvature seriously affects the thermal properties of a semiflexible biopolymer, but there is no phase transition in the system.