Polymer blending is a useful technique to vary polymer properties and to generate new products. As the formation of these blends do not usually involve chemical reactions, they may be potentially cheaper, more easily overcome regulatory/safety hurdles, and possibly lead to a faster path towards commercial development. This methodology is particularly advantageous for agro-based materials, where the starting materials are biodegradable, renewable, and eco-friendly. However, careful design and experimentation are needed in order to produce useful products. In this talk, a review is given of the biopolymer blends, including the benefits and the limitations of this methodology. For illustration, specific examples involving protein/protein, protein/polysaccharide, and polysaccharide/polysaccharide blends will be shown, with a particular emphasis on the work that the speaker was involved. In particular, selected biopolymer blends that involve hemicellulose and proteins will be described. Because these biopolymers are soluble or dispersible in water, easy to process, and do not involve the use or generation of toxic substances, they satisfy the requirements of green chemistry. Because the biopolymers used are agricultural products or byproducts, they are affordable and commercially available. Thus, the biopolymer blends represent good examples of affordable green chemistry.

Biopolymer blends as a versatile product platform for green polymer chemistry

2019 Spring National Meeting

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