Читать книгу Biomolecules from Natural Sources - Группа авторов - Страница 40

The most well know polymers are plastic(s); this is a generic name for synthetic, semisynthetic or natural materials that can be molded or extruded into objects, films, filaments or be used to make, for example, coatings and adhesives. Synthetic plastic is mainly derived from petroleum oil or through chemical reactions. But there are a considerable number of plastics that have a biological origin. Because of their perfect mechanical properties, different types of plastic were formulated to match different applications. Plastics were first used in packaging and housing materials. Later plastics find their way into medicinal, pharmaceutical and industrial applications. Today, plastics applications have either totally or partly substituted the other materials used previously in industrial applications (on all or some of their parts) such as wood, mud, metals, glass and other materials [35, 36]. Plastic is the best choice in many applications because of its low cost, stability, durability, good mechanical and thermal properties. Those who are interested in the materials produced by biopolymers and are investing funds and arranging resources aimed at commercializing species of biopolymers should identify the areas which lead to the success of the plastic applications. That will enable a successful start for any of the biopolymer application species still out of the market because of the value of the synthetic polymer. Some of the important biopolymer species, such as the bioplastc polyhydroxyalkanoates, gum Arabic, agar, alginate and so on, already exist in the market [28, 35, 37].