Surface Modification of Biopolymers

Vijay Kumar Thakur, PhD, is Staff Scientist in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Washington State University. His former appointments include being a research scientist in Temasek Laboratories at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and a visiting research fellow in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at LHU-Taiwan. In his academic career, he has published more than 78 SCI journal research articles in the field of polymers/materials science and holds one United States patent. He has also published 10 books and 25 five book chapters on the advanced state-of-the-art of polymers/materials science with numerous publishers. In addition to being on the editorial board of journals, he also serves as the Guest Editor of “Journal of Nanomaterials”, “International Journal of Polymer Science”, “Journal of Chemistry" and “American Journal of Applied Chemistry”. Amar Singh Singha, PhD, is Professor of Polymer Chemistry of the Chemistry Department at the National Institute of Technology – Hamirpur (H.P.) India. He received his M.Sc., M. Phil. and Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the Himachal Pradesh University Shimla (India), in 1983. Dr. Singha serves on the Editorial Board of International Journal of Polymer Analysis and Characterization (Taylor & Francis), BioResources and ISST Journal of Applied Chemistry. He is the author of more than 200 international research publications, 6 books and has a number of book chapters to his credits.

• List of Contributors viiPreface xi1 Surface Modification of Biopolymers: An Overview 1Manju Kumari Thakur, Ashvinder Kumar Rana, Yang Liping, Amar Singh Singha, and Vijay Kumar Thakur2 Surface Modification of Chitosan and its Implications in Tissue Engineering and Drug Delivery 20Dilip Depan and Raj Pal Singh3 Microwave‐Irradiated Synthesis of Agar‐Based Graft Copolymers: Analytical Evidences, Biomedical and Environmental Applications 45Sumit Mishra, Gautam Sen, and G. Usha Rani4 Adaptation of Biopolymers to Specific Applications 84Cecilia I. Alvarez Igarzabal, Marisa Martinelli,Verónica Brunetti, and Miriam C. Strumia5 Modifications of Lignocellulose Fibers and its Application in Adsorption of Heavy Metals from Aqueous Solution 113Vicente de Oliveira Sousa Neto, Francisco Cláudio de Freitas Barros, Diego de Quadros Melo, Paulo de Tarso C. Freire, Marcos Antônio Araujo‐Silva, and Ronaldo Ferreira do Nascimento6 Tailoring Surface Properties of Degradable Poly(3‐Hydroxyalkanoates) for Biological Applications 150Estelle Renard, Davy‐Louis Versace, Julien Babinot, and Valerie Langlois7 Physically and Chemically Modified Starches in Food and Non‐Food Industries 173Małgorzata Kapelko‐Żeberska, Tomasz Zięba, and Akhilesh Vikram Singh8 Polymer Modifications and Recent Technological Advances toward Live Cell Encapsulation and Delivery 194Paulomi Ghosh, Kausik Kapat, and Santanu Dhara9 Surface Modification of Natural Fibers for Reinforcement in Polymeric Composites 224Na Lu, Shubhashini Oza, and Morteza Ghaempanah Tajabadi10 Surface Electroconductive Modification of Biopolymers 238Hamidreza Barghi and Mohammad J. Taherzadeh11 Surface Modification of Cellulose Nanocrystals for Nanocomposites 258Jin Huang,, Youli Chen, and Peter R. Chang,12 Biopolymer‐Based Stimuli‐Sensitive Functionalized Graft Copolymers as Controlled Drug Delivery Systems 291T.S. Anirudhan and S.R. Rejeena13 Nucleophile‐Induced Shift of Surface Plasmon Resonance and its Implication in Chemistry 335Anindita Roy and Tarasankar Pal14 Surface Modification of Natural Fiber Composites and their Potential Applications 370Moshibudi C. Khoathane, Emmanuel R. Sadiku, Chinenyeze S. Agwuncha15 Effect of Surface Modification of Natural Cellulosic Fibers on the Dielectric and Mechanical Properties of Polymer Composites 401Ashvinder Kumar Rana, Amar Singh Singha, Manju Kumari Thakur, and Vijay Kumar ThakurIndex 419