Dear Colleagues,

In response to an imperative need to reduce our dependency on petrochemical fuel, society is making significant efforts to move toward a biobased and circular economy. In this particular context, biobased polymers have emerged as a viable and competitive alternative to replace, in some situations, petrochemical-based synthetic polymers, reducing our dependence on the depleting crude oil reserve. Natural polymers provide significant  advantages compared to synthetic polymers, including their renewable nature, biocompatibility, non-toxicity and cost-effectiveness. Their biodegradability reduces and prevents the problem associated with the accumulation of synthetic plastic waste in the environment. Currently, biobased polymers are experiencing increased recognition in several market segments, including food packaging, medicinal field for tissue engineering, drug delivery systems and bioadhesives, agriculture applications in seed coating, automobile and aerospace industries for eco-sustainable composites, and 3D printing mixtures, among others. This growing prominence can be attributed primarily to the biodegradability and biocompatibility properties exhibited by these polymers. Different types of bioplastics are being produced industrially, and they are trying to compete in performance and price with conventional fossil-oil based plastics. Despite some limitations, different biomaterials, from polysaccharides and proteins to lipids, are been widely explored and research has focused on developing new biomaterials with competitive and active properties.

This Special Issue aims to cover all recent original research works focused on the use of biopolymers and natural additives as new materials and potential commercial products, in which precursors derived from natural and renewable resources are key parts that can contribute to solving our global society's plastic dilemma.

Thus, we highly encourage contributions related to the development, production and design of new sustainable materials or new chemical and processing transormations.

Prof. Dr. Ana Catarina Cardoso de Sousa
Dr. Katarzyna Bialik-Wąs
Dr. Tiago Daniel Adriano Fernandes
Dr. Ivo Manuel Ferreira de Bragança
Guest Editors

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• biopolymers
• biocompatibility
• biobased composites
• green active materials
• renewable materials
• bio-hybrid hydrogels