ABSTRACT
Polysaccharides and proteins are abundantly found in nature and are highly recommended for developing eco-friendly materials due to their special properties (biodegradability, biocompatibility, non-toxicity, low cost, etc.). However, they sometimes fail to meet specific requirements due to poor mechanical and physical properties. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is one of the promising synthetic polymers with superior properties that can be blended with natural polymers for obtaining novel biomaterials with improved performances. This review addresses recent advance in PVA/polysaccharides and PVA/proteins biocomposites design and fabrication, mainly for the past two decades.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CNCS-UEFISCDI, project number PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-0199 (contract 300/2011).