Green Blends and Composites from Renewable Resources

A special group of polymers, those from renewable resources, has attracted an increasing amount of attention over the last two decades, due to two major reasons: environmental concerns and the limitations of our finite petroleum resources. Generally, polymers from renewable resources (PFRR) can be classified into three groups: (1) natural polymers, such as starch, protein and cellulose; (2) synthetic polymers from natural monomers, such as polylactic acid (PLA); and (3) polymers from microbial fermentation, such as polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB). Like many other petroleum based polymers, various properties of PFRR are also vastly improved through blending and composites formation.