Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 7
Nanocomposites: A Technical Review
Z. Moridi and V. Mottaghitalab
INTRODUCTION
Recently, the words “nano-biocomposites” or “biopolymer nanocomposites” are most
frequently observed in green environmental research studies. The synthetic polymers
have been widely used in a various application of nanocomposites. However, they be-
come a major source of waste after use due to their poor biodegradability. Also, most
of the synthetic polymers are not biocompatibe
in vivo
and/or
in vitro
environments.
Hence, scientists were interested to biopolymers as biodegradable materials [1]. Later,
several groups of natural biopolymers such as polysaccharide, proteins, and nucleic
acids were used as a substitute for synthetic polymers in various applications [2]. Nev-
ertheless, the use of these materials has been limited due to relatively poor mechanical
properties. Therefore, tremendous efforts have been made to improve the properties of
biopolymers as a matrix using of reinforcing agents [3].
Chitosan (CS) is a polysaccharide biopolymer that has been widely used as a ma-
trix in nano-biocomposites. Although, CS represents high biocompatibility and biode-
gradibility, but biopolymer needs to be mechanically strong using material with superb
mechanical properties [4]. Following discovery of carbon nanotube (CNT), results
of characterization represented unique electrical and mechanical properties. Thereby,
many research studies have focused on improving the physical properties of biopoly-
mer nanocomposites by using of the fundamental behavior of carbon nanotubes [5].
The overall aim of current review is summarizing the recent advances in the pro-
duction of CNTs/CS nanocomposites.
BIOPOLYMERS
Biomaterial has been defined as biocompatibility materials with the living systems.
The biocompatibility implies the chemical, physical (surface morphology), and bi-
ological suitability of an implant surface to the host tissues. S. Ramakrishna et al.
reviewed various biomaterials and their application over the last 30 years. They rep-
resented applications of biopolymers and their biocomposites in medical applications
[6]. These materials can classify to natural and synthetic biopolymers. Synthetic bio-
polymers have been provided cheaper with high mechanical properties. The low bio-
compatibility of synthetic biopolymers compared with natural biopolymers such as
polysaccharides, lipids, and proteins lead to have paid great attention to the natural
biopolymers. On the other hand, the natural biopolymers usually have weak mechanical
Search WWH ::
Custom Search