Green materials derived from renewable resources are increasingly being advocated for sustainable development due to rising environmental consciousness, waste management difficulties, depleting fossil resources, and rising oil prices to name a few. Renewable green resources such as starchy and cellulose polymers, natural fibers, vegetable oils, wood bark, cotton, wool, and silk have been utilized for food, furniture, and clothing for thousands of years. They have only recently undergone a revival as one of the most cost-effective alternatives to synthetic polymers in a variety of industrial applications, including building and construction, automotive packaging, films, and paper coating as well as biomedical uses. The primary drawbacks of synthetic polymers such as the release of toxic gases and vapors during incineration and the difficulty in disposing them off have prompted extensive research on new, green polymeric materials with special focus on the use of biopolymers derived from renewable resources for green composite applications. This book gives a true reflection of the vast area of research in green composites as it has contributions from internationally recognized experts in the field of green polymer materials, representing a wide range of disciplines, backgrounds, and expertise.
About the Author: Sabu Thomas is vice chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India. He is a highly committed teacher and a remarkably active researcher, well-known nationally and internationally for his outstanding contributions in polymer science and nanotechnology. Prof. Thomas is an outstanding leader with sustained international acclaims for his work in nanoscience, polymer science and engineering, polymer nanocomposites, elastomers, polymer blends, interpenetrating polymer networks, polymer membranes, green composites and nanocomposites, nanomedicine, and green nanotechnology. His research group invented new high-performance barrier rubber nanocomposite membranes for inner tubes and inner liners for tyres in collaboration with India's premier tyre company, Apollo Tyres. He has published over 1200 research articles in international refereed journals and edited or written 150 books. He is a recipient of more than 30 national and international awards.
Abitha V. K. is a senior research fellow at the School of Chemical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, India. She completed her master's in polymer technology from the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), Kerala, India. She has written several book chapters with Elsevier and Springer in addition to editing three books with Elsevier and has published research manuscripts in international journals. Her research interests include polymer blends, filler partitioning in rubber blends, fiber-filled polymer composites, particulate-filled polymer composites, and their morphological and structural characterizations.
Hanna J Maria is a UGC STRIDE fellow and senior researcher at the School of Energy Materials, Mahatma Gandhi University, India. She completed her PhD in 2015 from Mahatma Gandhi University and did her postdoctoral work at the Centre for Advanced Materials, Qatar University, Doha-Qatar. She was also a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yamaguchi University, Tokiwadai, Japan, in a project with TOCLAS corporation, Japan. She also got the Dr D. S. Kothari postdoctoral fellowship with Prof. Sabu Thomas. She has 25 published articles, 15 book chapters, and 8 co-edited books to her credit. Her research interests include natural rubber composites, their blends, thermoplastic composites, lignin, nanocellulose, bio nanocomposites, nanocellulose, rubber-based composites and nanocomposites, and hybrid nanocomposites.
