Natural-Based Polymers for Biomedical Applications
eBook - ePub

Natural-Based Polymers for Biomedical Applications

Tatiana G. Volova, Yuri S. Vinnik, Ekaterina I. Shishatskaya, Nadejda M. Markelova, Gennady E. Zaikov, Tatiana G. Volova, Yuri S. Vinnik, Ekaterina I. Shishatskaya, Nadejda M. Markelova, Gennady E. Zaikov

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eBook - ePub

Natural-Based Polymers for Biomedical Applications

Tatiana G. Volova, Yuri S. Vinnik, Ekaterina I. Shishatskaya, Nadejda M. Markelova, Gennady E. Zaikov, Tatiana G. Volova, Yuri S. Vinnik, Ekaterina I. Shishatskaya, Nadejda M. Markelova, Gennady E. Zaikov

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About This Book

This new book presents the authors' biomedical studies of natural degradable biopolymers (polyhydroxyalkanoates [PHAs]) and discusses the demand for medical-grade materials and modern trends, focusing on the present status and future potential of PHAs. The authors present and summarize their most important results and findings obtained during the last few years in experimental studies and clinical trials of PHAs at the Institute of Biophysics Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Science.

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Information

Year
2017
ISBN
9781315341811

Part I
Requirements for Biomaterials: The Position and Potential of Degradable Polyhydroxyalkanoates

Chapter 1
Creation and Use of Environmentally Friendly Materials as an Important Part of Critical Technologies of the 21st Century

Contents

Contents
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Bioplastics: A New Direction in Materials Science
1.3 The Need for Novel Functional Materials in Medicine
1.4 Requirements for Medical Grade Materials
1.5 Permission to Use Novel Biomaterials and Devices in Clinical Practice
1.6 Modern Medical Grade Materials
1.7 Applications of Medical Grade Materials
Keywords
References

1.1 Introduction

Development and use of new, environmentally friendly materials, which can be involved in biosphere cycles, corresponds to the idea of environmentally safe, sustainable industrial development. In Agenda 21, adopted at the special UN session on the environment and development in 1991, the stress is laid on the need for the development and application of new, ecofriendly technologies and materials (Agenda 21). Environmental protection is an integral component of sustainable development. Human economic activities threaten all biotic and abiotic components of the environment. Moreover, as noted in Agenda 21, the increasing human population produces and consumes greater amounts of chemical substances, thus, exacerbating environmental problems. In spite of the increasing efforts to bring down accumulation of wastes and recycle them, more and more damage is done to the environment by enormous amounts of wastes and unsustainable land management.
One of the priorities stated in Agenda 21 is “to prevent, halt and reverse environmental degradation through the appropriate use of biotechnology in conjunction with other technologies, while supporting safety procedures as an integral component of the program.” Specific objectives include the inauguration of specific programs with specific targets:
  • 1) To adopt production processes making optimal use of natural resources, by recycling biomass, recovering energy and minimizing waste generation;
  • 2) To promote the use of biotechnologies, with emphasis on bioremediation of land and water, waste treatment, soil conservation, reforestation, afforestation, and land rehabilitation;
  • 3) To apply biotechnologies and their products to protect environmental integrity with a view to long-term ecological security.
Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of relevant international and regional organizations, the private sector, non-governmental organizations and academic and scientific institutions, should:
  • Develop environmentally sound alternatives and improvements for environmentally damaging production processes;
  • Develop applications to minimize the requirement for unsustainable synthetic chemical input and to maximize the use of environmentally appropriate products, including natural products;
  • Develop processes to reduce waste generation, treat waste before disposal and make use of biodegradable materials;
  • Develop processes to remove pollutants from the environment;
  • Promote new biotechnologies for tapping mineral resources in an environmentally sustainable manner.
The increasing use of synthetic plastics has become a global environmental problem. Polymer materials have become an essential element of modern life, having replaced steel, wood, and glass in many applications. The term “polymeric materials” encompasses three large groups: polymers, plastics, and their morphological variety – polymer composite materials (PCM), or reinforced plastics. All these materials contain a polymeric constituent, which determines their basic thermal deformation and processing properties. The polymeric constituent is a high-molecular-weight organic substance produced by the chemical reaction between molecules of the starting low-molecular-weight substances – monomers. The term polymer usually defines high-molecular-weight substances (homopolymers) supplemented with stabilizers, plasticizers, lubricants, antirads, etc. Physically speaking, polymers are homophase materials, which retain all physicochemical properties of the homopolymers. Plastics are polymer-based composite materials, containing disperse or short-fiber fillers, pigments, and other free-flowing ingredients. Fillers are not present in the continuous phase. They are dispersed in the polymeric matrix. Plastics are heterophase isotropic (having the same properties in all directions) materials.
Plasticts are used in almost all areas of human activity (Table 1.1). About 60% of all synthetic plastics used for packaging are polyethylenes. They are low-cost materials and show excellent performance in various applications. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) has the simplest structure of all plastics, consisting of repeating units of ethylene, (–CH2–CH2–) n. Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) has the same chemical formula, but it has a high degree of chain branching: (CH2CHR)n, in which R may be –H, –(CH2)nCH3, or a more complex structure with secondary branching.
Synthetic polymers (nylon, polyethylene, polyurethane) have revolutionized our way of life, but they have also created a number of problems. First, resources used to produce synthetic polymers are nonrenewable and, second, the application of polymers that cannot decompose in the natural environment and their accumulation lead to environmental pollution, presenting a global ecological problem. Outputs of synthetic plastics that do not decompose in the natural environment, mostly polyolefins (polyethylenes and polypropylenes), and are manufactured in processes of petroleum synthesis are huge: their annual production has reached 330 million tons,
Table 1.1 Application Areas for Plastics
Market sector Product Application area/consequences

Packaging Packs, films Food package.
Bottles, trays, plasters Difficult recycling
Hollow containers Short lifetime of packaged food
Nets, bags
Fast Food Dishes Recycling may be impossible or expensive.
Cutlery
Plugs, lids Products are often biologically contaminated through contact with food
Drinking straws
Cups
Fibers/textiles Clothes "Breathing" cloth
Technical textiles Tactile properties
Fabrics Luster
Toys Artificial materials Educational advantages
Bricks and blocks Environment
Golf tees
Motor car construction Car floor mats, car parts
Everyday use Trash bags Short lifetime of the product
Fibers and nonwovens
Personal hygiene products Difficult recycling
Cosmetic containers, containers for powders, lubricants, etc.
Golf tees
Adhesives, paints, coatings
Gardening Plant pots Better compostable
Supports Very difficult recycling due to contamination
Peat bags
Fertilizer strips Cheaper manpower
Bonding materials
Agriculture Film covers Vegetable-growing, horticulture
Mulching films
Protective films
Medicine Implants Safe residence and degradation in the body
Medical packaging
Surgery materials Short lifetime of the product
Personal hygiene products Disposable product
Gloves
Other Filters Specific advantages
Assembly technologies Cost reduction
Burial Compostablity requirements
Desk sets
Electronics DVD, computer cases
Coatings for office equipment, video and audio equipment
Cases for mobile phones
* Adapted from Fomin, Guzeev, 2001; the Data of Biodegradable Materials Interest Community Association; COPA Forecast.
increasing by about 25 million tons every year. In developed countries, no more than 16–20% of them are recycled, and they largely accumulate in landfills.
The main approaches of the plastic refuse policy are now landfilling and reclamation. Polymer landfilling is a time bomb, and this problem will have to be solved by the future generations. Moreover, up to 10,000 ha of the land, including agricultural fields, is annually occupied by new landfills. A possible way to reduce enormous amounts of plastic refuse is reclamation, which can involve several solutions: incineration, pyrolysis, recycling, and reprocessing. However, neither incineration nor pyrolysis of plastic containers and other plastic items can essentially improve the state of the environment. Moreover, incineration is a very costly process, releasing highly toxic and super-toxic compounds (such as furans and dioxins). Recycling is some solution, but it involves considerable labor and energy expenditures: plastic packaging items and containers have to be picked out of the household garbage; different plastics should be separated, washed, dried and disintegrated; only then, they can be processed to fabricate a new end item.
Some countries have passed legislation that plastic waste, plastic packaging items and containers in particular, must be obligatorily collected and recycled. For instance, the European Union Directives stipulate that manufacture of plastic packaging must involve 15% recycled plastics; in Germany, this quota is 50% and must increase to 60%. Landfilling and incineration cannot solve the problem of reusing millions of tons of synthetic plastic refuse, and their accumulation in the biosphere can lead to a global environmental disaster. A solution to this problem is to create and use new types of materials that are naturally degraded in the environment into harmless components. This solution grows in popularity as oil and gas prices increase. In contrast to oil, polymers prepared from natural raw materials or synthesized by microorganisms (the so-called biopolymers, or bioplastics) do not contribute to greenhouse gas increase and global warming. Moreover, they can facilitate regeneration of the carbon cycle, or “carbon reincarnation.” Petroleum-based polymers may also be regarded as renewable materials, but it will take more than one million years for the biomass to be converted into fossil fuels, which may be used to produce plastics. As the level of consumption of plastics is much higher than the level of renewal of fossil carbon resources, the carbon cycle is not in balance. By contrast, bio-based biodegradable polymers, which are produced from renewable plant material and microbial biomass, can be produced and recycled over comparable time periods. Therefore, countries developing this approach are exempt from emission quotas under the Kyoto Protocol. The European Union undertook to reduce CO2 emissions by 8% relative to the level of 1990, by 2012. Japan undertook to reduce CO2 emissions by 6%.
In 2000, t...

Table of contents