Editorial pubs.acs.org/Biomac
Frontiers in Biomacromolecules: Functional Materials from Nature
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ultidisciplinary research creates synergies through the influence and interaction of multiple disciplines. The latest advancements in polymer science are often combined with cellulose technology, biochemistry, biology, and so on, and as a result, there has been tremendous development in the field of biobased products. I am pleased to announce the very first “virtual issue” of Biomacromolecules. A virtual issue compiles recently published papers selected from a research area that is being highlighted in the journal. Such a thematic collection can be directly accessed from the Biomacromolecules journal page (http://pubs.acs.org/ r/frontiers). The aim of such a compilation is to focus attention on the latest and emerging areas that are generating interest in the community and to bring the recent and most exciting published works in those topics as a single collection that is easy to access at one place. For this inaugural virtual issue of Biomacromolecules, two emerging trends in multidisciplinary fields will be featured. One will focus on the use of cellulose nanostructures, for example, research on new composite materials based on cellulose fibers, nanofibers, or nanowhiskers. Increased control of the structure together with chemical modifications gives functional polymers with improved properties, and sometimes even unexpected properties. Other materials such as spider silk and adhesives from mussels show promise for a number of biomedical applications. The second will focus on polysaccharides from different biomass feedstocks, including cellulose, chitin and hemicellulose. Such biomacromolecules, and their utilization, offer structural complexity and properties that span over a wide spectrum, thus offering potential added value in diverse applications such as films and coatings, including hydrophilic films, antimicrobial films, or films with good barrier properties. The recovery and upgrading of biomass is usually focused on purification to monomers and polymers. Noteworthy, limited upgradation and controlled modification may also give sustainable, tailored, and reproducible products. In accordance with this theme of the virtual issue, we present here an ensemble of 18 articles published in Biomacromolecules from 2011 through 2012 that deal with functional biopolymers, such as cellulose, and their applications.
Ann-Christine Albertsson, Editor-in-Chief
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Royal Institute of Technology
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Notes
Views expressed in this Editorial are those of the author and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
Received: November 13, 2012 Published: December 10, 2012 © 2012 American Chemical Society
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dx.doi.org/10.1021/bm301760u | Biomacromolecules 2012, 13, 3901−3901
