Green Nano-Biocomposites

Abstract

The last two decades have seen the development of an alternative chemistry, a green chemistry, which intends to reduce the human impact on the environment. The polymers are obviously involved into this tendency and numerous biodegradable plastics are now processed for a wide range of applications such as packaging, leisure, agriculture, and biomedical. Some of these polymers combine renewability and biodegradability, such as polylactide, polyhydroxyalkanoate, and the polysaccharides. However, even if a lot of commercial products are now available, their properties (mechanical properties, moisture sensitivity...) have to be enhanced to be really competitive with the conventional petroleum-based plastics. One of the most promising answers to overcome these weaknesses is the elaboration of nano-biocomposites, namely the dispersion of nano-sized filler into a biodegradable matrix. This introductory chapter intends to briefly highlight some recent studies and developments on nano-biocomposites systems mainly based on nanoclay.