Bio-Based Plant Oil Polymers and Composites

Bio-based Plant Oil Polymers and Composites provides engineers and materials scientists a useful framework to help take advantage of the latest research conducted in this rapidly advancing field―enabling them to develop and commercialize their own products quickly and more successfully.

Plant oil is one of the most attractive options as a substitute for non-renewable resources in polymers and composites, and is producing materials with very promising thermomechanical properties relative to traditional, petroleum-based polymers. In addition to critical processing and characterization information, the book assists engineers in deciding whether or not they should use a plant oil-based polymer over a petroleum-based polymer, discussing sustainability concerns, biodegradability, associated costs, and recommended applications.

The book details the advancements in the development of polymeric materials and composites from plant oils, and provides a critical review of current applications in various fields, including packaging, biomedical, and automotive applications. Also includes the latest progress in developing multifunctional biobased polymers―by increasing thermal conductivity or adding antibacterial properties, for example.

• Essential coverage of processing, characterization, and the latest research into polymeric materials and composites derived from plant oils (thermoplastics, thermosets, nanocomposites, and fiber reinforced composites)
• Critically reviews the potential applications of plant oil-based polymers, including sensors, structural parts, medical devices, and automotive interiors
• Includes the latest developments in multifunctional bio-based polymer composites

Samy Madbouly is a Materials Scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA. He received his Ph.D. from the Department of Organic and Polymeric Materials, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan. He served as a senior research scientist at the School of Polymers and High-Performance Materials, University of Southern Mississippi, USA, and at the Center for Biomaterial Development, Institute of Polymer Research, GKSS, Germany. He also worked as assistant Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State University and School of Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, as well as a Senior Polymer Engineer at Schlumberger, USA.

Chaoqun Zhang is a Full Professor at the College of Materials and Energy, South China Agricultural University, China. Prof. Zhang received his Ph.D. degree in Materials Science and Engineering in 2014 from Iowa State University, USA. Following his Ph.D., he served as a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Sustainable Polymers at the University of Minnesota from 2014 to 2015, and at Texas A&M University, USA, from 2015 to 2016, before returning to China.