Bionanocomposites: Green materials for a sustainable future

The word "green" refers to those materials that are "renewable" as well as "biodegradable" and thus can be exploited for issues related to the environment and sustainability. Bionanocomposites are an important class of hybrid materials, comprised of biopolymers and inorganic solids. They exhibit at least one dimension on the nanometer scale. Such biodegradable materials prove to be invaluable gifts to present and future generations thanks to modern science and technology. Natural polymers, which are preferred from an environmental standpoint, including starch, poly-lactic acid (PLA), cellulose acetate, etc. have been widely used in the past few years. Optically transparent plasticized PLA-based bionanocomposite films have been utilized for packaging in the food industry. Artificial bone tissue scaffolds based on natural hybrids of cellulose acetate (CA) and nano-hydroxyapatite (n-HA) have been used to study in vitro bone regeneration. However, the search for and development of new and economical materials for greener requirements has been a dynamic process.