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Different kinds of biorenewable materials are rapidly emerging as potential alternatives to conventional petroleum-based synthetic materials. Among these materials, soy protein and its derivatives are of utmost interest and importance due to their advantages such as low cost, biodegradability, environmental friendliness, biocompatibility, renewability, and wide availability to name few. However, the poor physicochemical/mechanical properties as well as high moisture sensitivity of different soy based materials limit their successful applications in many fields. Different methodologies to produce new soy based materials with suitable functional groups are highly desired to increase their range of applications. So, in this Review, we have focused on the recent advances in the various graft copolymerization strategies involving soy and its applications. The synthesis, characterization, and methodology of graft-copolymer processing and resulting properties of the copolymers are fully covered. In this Review, ...

Chitosan is among one of the most important and most studied natural polymers. The cationic nature of chitosan makes it a polymer of high importance from environmental and biomedical point of views among the other natural polysaccharides. However, it also suffers from a few disadvantages and requires further development to achieve the targeted results and desired range of efficiency. To overcome some of the disadvantages of the pristine chitosan, it is most imperative to functionalize it with suitable functional groups. Therefore, it is highly desired to understand the chemistry of the reactions used to alter the surface characteristics of chitosan. Among various techniques presently being used to tailor the surface characteristics of chitosan, graft copolymerization is of the utmost importance. The aim of the present perspective is to describe the recent advances in the graft copolymerization of chitosan with particular emphasis on atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). This perspective describes t...

Rising environmental concerns and depletion of petro-chemical resources has resulted in an increased interest in biorenewable polymer-based environmentally friendly materials. Among biorenewable polymers, lignin is the second most abundant and fascinating natural polymer next to cellulose. Lignin is one of the three major components found in the cell walls of natural lignocellulosic materials. Lignin is widely available as a major byproduct of a number of industries involved in retrieving the polysaccharide components of plants for industrial applications, such as in paper making, ethanol production from biomass, etc. The impressive properties of lignin, such as its high abundance, low weight, environmentally friendliness and its antioxidant, antimicrobial, and biodegradable nature, along with its CO2 neutrality and reinforcing capability, make it an ideal candidate for the development of novel polymer composite materials. Considerable efforts are now being made to effectively utilize waste lignin as one ...