Biopolymer Nanocomposites and Their Applications
Biomaterials, both natural and synthetic, attract growing attention in the fields of biomedical devices, tissue engineering, and gene therapy applications. Recent trends call for use of degradable polymers as the preferred candidates for developing therapeutic devices because of the long-term biocompatibility issues associated with biostable polymeric materials. Here, we present an overview of a wide range of synthetic and natural biopolymers that can meet the demands of intended medicinal and practical use. Since biocompatibility of polymeric biomaterials is vital, special emphasis is given to the factors controlling biocompatibility and biofilm formation. The use of nanoparticles, in particular silver nanoparticles in inhibiting the biofilm formation, has been discussed. Several methodologies have been described for preparing polymer composites filled with nanoparticles, such as in situ polymerization to ex situ solution casting and blending. Here, we also present several processing techniques for formulating biomimetic polymer nanocomposites, so as to mimic the extracellular material (ECM) structure. The chapter concludes with the most recent advances in the field of controlled release of drugs or growth factors locally within 3D scaffold region or other targeted region of interest so that it could have a positive benefit in promoting successful recovery. This detailed overview is expected to be of interest to a wide audience of readers with interdisciplinary specializations related to polymers and polymer nanocomposites.
