Sustainable Resources Laboratory, Department of Environmental Science, Central University of Kerala, Tejaswini Hills, Periya, Kasaragod, Kerala 671316, India.
Cell Factory Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
Bioresour Technol. 2022 Jan;344(Pt B):126397. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.126397. Epub 2021 Nov 22.
The era for eco-friendly polymers was ushered by the marine plastic menace and with the discovery of emerging pollutants such as micro-, nano-plastics, and plastic leachates from fossil fuel-based polymers. This review investigates algae-derived natural, carbon neutral polysaccharides and polyesters, their structure, biosynthetic mechanisms, biopolymers and biocomposites production process, followed by biodegradability of the polymers. The review proposes acceleration of research in this promising area to address the need for eco-friendly polymers and to increase the cost-effectiveness of algal biorefineries by coupling biofuel, high-value products, and biopolymer production using waste and wastewater-grown algal biomass. Such a strategy improves overall sustainability by lowering costs and carbon emissions in algal biorefineries, eventually contributing towards the much touted circular, net-zero carbon future economies. Finally, this review analyses the evolution of citation networks, which in turn highlight the emergence of a new frontier of sustainable polymers from algae.
海洋塑料污染的威胁以及新兴污染物（如微塑料、纳米塑料和源自化石燃料的聚合物的塑料浸出物）的发现，开创了环保型聚合物的时代。本综述探讨了藻类衍生的天然、碳中性多糖和聚酯，包括它们的结构、生物合成机制、生物聚合物和生物复合材料的生产工艺，以及聚合物的可生物降解性。该综述提出加快这一有前途领域的研究，以满足对环保型聚合物的需求，并通过利用废水中生长的藻类生物质来提高生物燃料、高价值产品和生物聚合物生产的藻类生物炼制厂的成本效益。这种策略通过降低藻类生物炼制厂的成本和碳排放，提高整体可持续性，最终有助于实现备受推崇的循环、净零碳排放未来经济。最后，本综述分析了引文网络的演变，这反过来又突显了藻类可持续聚合物这一新前沿领域的出现。
