9^th International Conference on Biopolymers and Polymer Sciences November 19-20, 2018 Bucharest, Romania

In recent years polymer industries have been challenged by the demand for improved multifunctional, high grade and more specialised polymers. Researchers and developers are coming up with newer technologies to enhance existing polymers or synthesizing technologies. Advanced polymers such as nanofibers are synthesized from technologies like electrospinning which is one of the most efficient techniques of fabrication. There are also other polymers that have been produced with electrospinning which are ultrafine and such nano-scale materials find applications in reinforcement of nanocomposites. Plasma polymerization is also being used to synthesize polymer films, it utilizes plasma to provide energy to fragment or activate gaseous or liquid monomers to induce polymerization. The advantages plasma polymerization, are ability to produce polymer films of organic compounds that cannot be polymerized through chemical polymerization and another advantage is that it is more suitable for precision nano-coating applications compared to conventional coating methods. The reusable electrodes add to the green aspects of this method.

Conductive polymers consolidate the attractive properties related with traditional polymers and special electronic properties of metals or semiconductors. As of late, nanostructured conductive polymers have stimulated significant research enthusiasm because of their special properties over their macro-scale counterparts, for example, large surface area and short distances for charge/mass transport, making them potential candidates for expansive applications in energy storage and conversion, actuators, sensors and biomedical devices. Various synthesis techniques have been created to produce conductive polymer nanostructures and high performance devices in view of these nanostructured conductive polymers. This provides us with various applications of nanostructured conductive polymers such as electrode material for electrochemical capacitors and lithium-ion batteries and new perspective of practical materials for cutting edge high-energy batteries. Recently fuel cell systems with polymer-based electrolytes are of special interest for certain applications due to their relatively simple and compact design and high power densities. On the fundamental level, they are further classified according to the nature of ionic-conducting species in the polymer-based electrolyte, i.e., acidic (proton conducting) or alkaline (hydroxide ion conducting) membranes. Solar cells are one of the most reliable renewable sources of energy and but it is not the most efficient. Therefore, there is constant progress in improving the solar cells to provide greater efficiency. For this development different materials have been tested, among them are polymers. The polymer solar cells have a wide range of application including flexible solar modules and semi-transparent solar cells in windows, to building applications and even photon recycling in liquid-crystal displays. 

Nanopolymers possessing variety of structures, shapes and functional forms have recently been synthesized using several techniques. Nanopolymers are the most advantageous materials that are building blocks for mounting complex and simple hierarchical nanosystems. Nanopolymers have a broad range of application it is a fast emerging trend in polymer technology. Nanopolymers are currently being developed to find interesting applications in life sciences. Organizations and government entities are investing massive amounts in nanotech R&D. life science technology innovators across the globe are delivering new products and technologies. Nanotubes are being developed to decrease failures of dental implants which occurs due to infection or dislodging from the surrounding bone. By utilizing Titanium nanotubes loaded with anti-inflammatory and antibiotic agents it was discovered that bone cells grew more vigorously around the implants and the implants had reduced chances rejection and infection. Nanopolymers such as polymeric micelles can be used as coating materials for tissue engineering scaffolds. It has been discovered that such drug-loaded micellar shells can provide controlled drug release and therefore, predicted and measured release can be achieved from nanoscaffolds for drugs, genes or proteins adding advantages to preventing infection or stepping up tissue and organ regeneration. Nanopolymers are also applicable in automotive industries in producing car components like coatings made up of water-repelling polymer nanocomposites or quartz nanoparticles, which enables it to remain clean and protect against scratches and chips and reduce corrosion without any change in appearance of the paint underneath. Similarly, there are numerous applications for nanopolymers and nanotechnology in a wide spectrum of industrial sectors.

Bioplastics are mouldable plastics made up of biomolecule compounds synthesized mostly by microbes or by genetically modified plants. These plastics are obtained from renewable resources and are not petroleum based compared to conventional plastics. Bioplastics are similar to plastics but with added benefits of biodegradability and biocompatibility. Most commonly produced industrial bioplastics are polylactic acid (PLA) and polyhydroxyalkanotes (PHA). Polylactic acid differs from most thermoplastic polymers since it is derived from renewable resources that include corn or sugar cane. It can be used for substituting pre-existing polymers with relatively low production cost. PLA is the second largest bioplastic in terms of mass production. It has a wide range of applications, with the most common ones being, bottles, plastic films and biodegradable medical devices. Since, PLAs are thermoplastics they have exiting applications in 3D printing.

Biocomposites are synthetic or biopolymers that are reinforced with natural/biofibers. Natural fibers such as jute, pinapple leaf fiber, hemp and various grasses are combined with polymer matrices from both renewable and non-renewable resources to form composites such as glass epoxies, glass-polypropylene etc. these naturally occurring natural fibres are bound to the polymers using epoxy, polyurethane or unsaturated polyester resins. The burgeoning area of applications for biocomposites is in housing products, automotive parts and packaging. There are challenges in replacing conventional glass reinforced plastics with biocomposites which includes design of materials which exhibit structural and functional stability during usage and storage but with the added advantage of environmental degradation upon disposal making them green materials. Car manufactures look for the biocomposites that deliver similar performance as conventional composites with lesser weight.

Polymer chemistry currently is experiencing profound changes in direction. Initially the foundation for polymer science was primarily chemistry which involved preparation of polymers conducting studies on them to determine their properties. Presently, polymer chemistry is primarily concerned with condensed-matter physics and material science. The reason for this is course deviation is the intellectual nourishment that the researchers are finding in these fields which are undergoing changes themselves. An even greater importance is the discoveries made by the scientists with little prior interest in polymers that these materials offer on an intellectually challenging areas of research. Another force driving this change is the demands of the higher technology industries that work with all new materials with various unseen properties. Gradually, even bridges will be built from the use of biological sciences. These forces combined together are reshaping the way in which researches on polymers will be done in the future. However, it is necessary to stay in touch with the basic foundations of polymer chemistry.

In the past few decades, biodegradable products and bio based materials have developed good interest since the fossil fuel reserves started to deprive and new policies were introduced for sustainable development. Biodegradable polymers provide significant contribution to a sustainable usage with decreased environmental impact. Owing to these reasons the market for environment friendly materials is witnessing a fast expansion, about 10-20% every year. As a result, biodegradable polymers are the desired topic of interest for research. Synthetic polymers are produced from petroleum resources. However, polymers are also produced in nature. These polymer chains are typically found in cellulose, lignin, or starch. Cellulose is very abundant in plants. Lignin can be commonly found in wood and starch can be found in plants like potatoes, corn and wheat. All of these materials are renewable and easily available. Unlike synthetic polymers, natural polymers contain nitrogen and oxygen and their presence allows polymers to biodegrade. Mechanisms of biodegradation includes the microbial degradation by soil microbes which secrete enzymes that breaks down the polymers into recyclable monomers and oligomers and the compounds released in the soil also enriches it. This can also increase the stability and longevity of landfills due to reduced volume of garbage. Since 2002 the production of biodegradable plastics was less one percentage of the total production of plastics and the most successful bioplastic in the market was PLA which was derived from corn. It is mostly used in packaging industries and it does not produce toxic byproducts in after it degrades the conditions with of high temperature and water allows PLA to degrade and its melting point of PLA is between 175 and 185 degrees Celsius. Biodegradable plastics are emerging in Europe and Japan. Many products that get packaged in Japan are sold around the world. Japan’s use of natural plastic packaging is a positive indication that this new technology will continue to grow in the future.

A large variety of biopolymers, such as polysaccharides, polyesters, and polyamides, are naturally synthesized by microorganisms. These biopolymers range from viscous solutions to plastics and their physical properties which are dependent on the composition and molecular weight of the polymer. Genetic engineering of microorganisms has provided an enormous potential for the biotechnological production of biopolymers with desired properties suitable for medical application such as tissue engineering, material science, drug delivery and bioplastics. There are several benefits in commercializing biopolymers mostly for sustainable development, renewability and eco-friendly aspects. Bioplastics can be manufactured mainly with three different methods, one is modifying naturally occurring polymers such as starch, cellulose. Second, is by polymerizing bio-based monomers that are produced by fermentation and the last one, as mentioned earlier, by genetically modified microbes and plants. There are several technologies and processes designed for biopolymer production that include extrusion, film blowing, thermoforming, fermentation, injection moulding, etc.

Polymers are long chained, large organic molecules that are formed by the assembly of many smaller molecules called monomers. This chain sometimes may also have branching or cross-linking. A polymer is similar to a necklace made from many small beads or monomers. polymers are formed from the chemical reaction between the monomers  called polymerization which are of various kinds. Polymer scientists progressively strive for manufacturing products that have the correct properties for a specific application. This is achieved by controlling molecular weight, linking and branching, etc. with it they can tailor polymers that are suitable for a wide range of application from containers and fittings to drug delivery systems. The challenge it presents is that the physical properties at bulk quantities largely depend on the properties of the molecules themselves. The polymerization process will depend on the thermodynamics of the reaction and can determine whether it can be reversible or not. Polymerization reaction happens by a variety of mechanisms that vary in complexity because of functional groups in the compounds and their steric effects. In a forward reaction, alkenes form polymers by means of radical reactons in contrast, more complex reactions like the ones involving substitution reactions at the carbonyl group requires more complex synthesis because of the reacting monomers polymerize. There are various types of polymerization such as step growth polymerization, chain growth polymerization and photopolymerization.

Synthetic polymers or human-made polymers are those which consist of several repeating structural units known as monomers. Polyethylene is one of the simplest and best known examples of polymers, it has ethene or ethylene as the monomer unit whereas the linear polymer is known as the high density polyethylene. Many polymeric materials have chain-like structures which are similar to polyethylene. The most common uses of polymers of in everyday life are in fabric and textile industries, non stick pans, PVC in pipes and PET bottles that are commonly used. Tyres are manufactured from BUNA rubbers. Polyacrylamide is a water swelling and high molecular weight polymer made from acrylamide monomers. Poly (acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) and its sodium salts (APAM) are widely being used as thickening agent, binder, soil conditioner, filtering properties, flocculating agent, suspending agent, lubrication, and oil recovery agent. One of its biggest uses is waste water treatment. Synthetic polymers have been evolving with new emerging technologies that have taken inspiration from other areas such as biology, such as self healing polymers which heal when damage is done to it which are generally considered irreversible, it is still in development and presents a challenge to produce it in large scale. Other advanced polymers include, nanocomposites and plastic electronics.

Increasing environmental concerns and depleting of petro-chemical resources has given rise to development biorenewable polymer-based environment friendly materials. Among these polymers are lignin and cellulose based materials. Lignin is readily available as a major byproduct of a number of industries involved in extracting the polysaccharide components of plants for commercial applications which includes paper making, ethanol production from biomass, etc. The advantage of such polymers is that they are highly abundant, low weight, environmentally friendly and have antioxidant, antimicrobial, and biodegradable properties. Green polymers have been synthesized for advanced applications such as porous three-dimensional polylactide scaffolds which were obtained from PLA which were incorporated with various quantities chitosan-modified montmorillonite (CS-MMT). It was produced using solvent casting and particulate leaching technique. The manufactured scaffolds were tested in the labs for their possible application in tissue engineering of bones. The advantage of this material is that the scaffolds are bioabsorbable, which means that the scaffolds will be completely absorbed overtime. Enzymatic polymerization is also another method for polymer synthesis which is an in-vitro method utilizing non biosynthetic pathways catalyzed by an isolated enzyme. This method was developed during this decade. It utilizes enzymes of hydrolases with oxidoreductases as catalysts. This noval technique has provided natural polysaccharides like cellulose and chitin, and unnatural polysaccharides to be catalyzed using a glycosidase from specifically designed monomers, different functionalized polyesters catalyzed by lipase from a variety of monomers catalyzed by oxidoreductase and an enzyme model complex for phenols and anilines. 

Polymer production requires manufacturing equipments that possess a wide range of flexibility in operation. Reactors are needed to be operated at various temperatures that require a heat transfer fluid system around that is used for both heating and cooling. This type of heat transfer system configuration works best when a single fluid can be used to effectively transfer heat over the complete temperature range specified. Thermoset polymer matrix is a polymer that is used for reinforcing therefore has structural applications, it includes glass-reinforced plastic radar domes on aircrafts and payload bay doors of space shuttles made of graphene-epoxy. Within the polymer matrix composites, polymers are used as binders to hold the infused particles and fibres in place.

Advanced polymer techniques are designed to produce some of the unique products and latest industrial developments and fabrication methods. These methods originate from both industry and academia for the growth of polymer applications and meeting the demands of the future. Polymers are combined with other materials such as metal to create hybrids to offer the properties of both the materials. Polymer-metal hybrids are produced by friction spot joining which is used to join lightweight alloys such as aluminium and magnesium having high performance composites and thermoplastics. The friction spot welding machine melts and deforms the metal due to heat friction and compressive force. A metallic hub is created which is inserted through the composite. At the same time a thin layer of molten polymer matrix is displaced around the joining area. The joint is formed later after the fixation of the polymeric molten layer. These are the two phenomena involved in the joining mechanism. Similar, methods are being developed for producing more and more unique polymers having advanced architecture to be utilized in a more specified application.

Nano polymers have an extremely large surface area that provides diverse opportunities for functional groups to be occupied on the surface. Particles are produced that can expand/contract with changes in physical conditions such as pH, or interact with anti-bodies in specified manner which can be used in manufacturing rapid ex-vivo medical diagnostic tests. Important new innovation have been made in combining inorganic materials with polymers and in combining different classes of polymers together in nanoparticle form. New and improved analytical techniques permits us to obtain the structures even at smaller scales and also computer simulations of step by step formation of the particles can be performed which have proven advantages in developing strategies to produce structured particles. Nanostructured polymers such as nanofibers have applications in drug delivery, wound healing, tissue engineering and barrier textiles. Non layered nanoparticles can be used for polymer modification, it can be considered as a significant tier of organic- inorganic hybrid materials where inorganic nanoscale building blocks are incorporated uniformly in an organic polymer matrix. Compared to conventional composite materials based on micrometer fillers at the interface the nanoscale filler particles provide greater surface area therefore enhancing the properties of the composites. Polymer modification is used in the development of predictive capacity of properties of polymers and its behaviour based on models of molecular interactions. Carbon nanotubes and graphene are light weight materials but are extremely strong and have better structural and functional properties compared to their conventional counterparts. They are being used as filler materials to other materials to produce composite materials that grant them substantial mechanical and electrical properties.

Industrial processes such as injection molding and blow moulding are observing rapid growth due to its requirement new application in areas such as automotive, sports, electronics, transportation and packaging industries. But these new technology are complex and need better understanding of the behaviour of the materials during the early stage of process and its relation to properties and performance of the final product. Mathematical modelling and simulation of each steps of the process can be used to optimize the process and improve product performance of industrial parts. For process like injection moulding, there is a growing interest to the numerically predict the filling phase for both thin and thick parts. Polymer reactions such as crystallization and nucleation also being modelled where mathematical theory is used to describe the theoretical properties regarding the process and predict the properties of the crystalized end products. The mathematical models are based on experimental data and aids in the optimization of solidification process to obtain products with required mechanical properties.

In recent years there are researches emerging that intend to diminish the boundary between polymer science and biology. The interest is fast growing and few understanding of how to generalize statistical and continuum field theories to observe the phenomena that are more than equilibrium. This will result to a theme that has repeatedly observed in biology how are structures organized or self-organized within the organism at a specific spot, from simple macromolecule precursers to complex architectures. This is a challenging task but also has tremendous opportunities. The research ideas can take two different paths; biology introduces to new problems that has not been traditional on the other hand polymer science utilizes its various tools that provide a starting point to search for issues in biology. Tissue engineering is a field that uses polymers in biology which is involved in the restoration, maintainaince, or improvement of tissue functions that have become defective or have been lost due to pathological conditions, either by developing substitutes or by completely reconstructing new tissues. Scaffold design and fabrication are one of the significant areas of biomaterial research and it is necessory for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Polymers are being widely used as biomaterials for the preperation of medical device and tissue-engineering scaffolds. Polymeric scaffolds due to their unique properties such as high surface-to-volume ratio, high porosity with very small pore size, biodegradation, and mechanical property are drawing good amount of attention. They possess unique advantages of biocompatibility, versatility of chemistry, and the biological properties which are a neccessity in tissue engineering and organ substitution. Extensive progress has been made in the use of biocompatible dendrimers for treatment of cancer and their use as delivery systems for anticancer drugs like cisplatin and doxorubicin, as well as agents for both boron neutron capture therapy and photodynamic therapy. Polymers are also applied in bone replacement.

The continuous decline in fossil fuel resources combined with increase in oil prices has initiated a search for alternatives that are based on renewable resources for energy production. The production organic chemical materials from the application of petroleum and carbon based chemistry has created a variety of initiatives to replace fossil sources with renewable materials. In particular, tremendous efforts are being conducted in polymer science and technology to produce macromolecular polymers from renewable resources. The utilization of vegetable biomass is gaining progress after segregation of its components and its development after chemical modification. Certain biodegradable polymers such as polyhydroxy alkanoates and polylactic acids utilize renewable feedstocks which in this case is microbial biomass. The plastic manufacturing industries utilize genetically modified strains of microbes such as bacillus subtilis or lactobacillus to improve bioplastic yield and reduce cost of production which is the major problem for bioplastic manufacturing industrial sectors.

A major part of municipal solid waste comprises of packaging material waste and it has caused increasing environmental concerns, resulting in the induction of strict environmental Regulations in order to reduce solid waste. Among other materials, a wide range of petroleum-based polymers is currently being used in packaging applications. They are predominantly non-biodegradable and particularly difficult to recycle or reuse due to various levels of contamination and complex composites. Over the years, the development of biodegradable packaging materials from renewable natural resources has received increasing attention, particularly in European countries. Significant progress has been done to produce biodegradable materials with similar functionality to that of the oil-based synthetic polymers. It is anticipated that, as the materials are from renewable resources and biodegradable, they would contribute to sustainable development and if properly managed will decrease their environmental impact upon disposal. But when it to the disposal of current generation of synthetic plastics like the ones found in consumer products are disposed in landfills which undergo biodegradation and photodegradation. Polymers such as polyacrylics and polyethylenes are not associated with significant polymer degradation or mobility. Landfill disposal is an effective means to manage polymer waste and additional waste management techniques can be applied which includes, recycling, reuse, composting and waste-to-energy incineration. More recent methods of polymer recycling are also being developed, one such method is selective dissolution which utilises xylene as a solvent to dissolve the polymer resin. This process is repeated at different temperatures to separate the various polymers within the mix, which can be pelletized later for plastic industries.