Summary

This fellowship programme will take a circular economy (CE) approach and unlock the huge potential of renewable biomass, which can be easily sourced from agriculture/aquaculture/food industry as byproducts or wastes. The biomass contains biopolymers cellulose, chitin/chitosan, starch, protein, alginate and lignin, which are valuable resources for making environmentally friendly materials. Moreover, these biopolymers have unique properties and functions, which make them highly potential in important, rapidly growing applications such as therapeutic agent delivery, tissue engineering scaffolds, biological devices, green electronics, sensing, dye and heavy metal removal, oil/water separation, and optics. However, enormous challenges exist to process biopolymers and achieve desired properties/functions cost-effectively; these valuable biomass resources have long been underutilised. This proposed ambitious and adventurous research will focus on the smart design of materials formulation and engineering process from an interdisciplinary perspective to realise the assembly of biopolymer composite materials under a single flow process. This will eventually lead to a reinvented, cost-effective engineering technology based on 3D printing to produce a diverse range of robust, biopolymer composite materials with tailored structure, properties and functionality. Due to the versatile chemistry of biopolymers for modification, the bespoke ‘green’ materials are expected to outperform many synthetic polymers and composites for specific applications such as tissue engineering and controlled release. The outcomes of this transformative project will not only provide fundamental knowledge leading to a completely new line of research, but also deliver ground-breaking technologies that will impact the UK’s plastic industry by providing truly sustainable and high-performance options for high-end technological areas (e.g. healthcare and agriculture).

Journal publications

213. Chen, Y., Rao, Y., Liu, P.*, Han, Z.*, & Xie, F.* (2024). Facile fabrication of a starch-based wood adhesive showcasing water resistance, flame retardancy, and antibacterial properties via a dual crosslinking strategy. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 282(4), 137180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.137180 [Gold OA]

211. Li, K., Liu, X., Jiang, F., Zhang, B., Qiao, D.*, & Xie, F.* (2024). In the process of polysaccharide gel formation: A review of the role of competitive relationship between water and alcohol molecules. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 281(3), 136398.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.136398
[Gold OA] [Review article]

209. Chen, Y., Zhu, Z., Shi, K., Jiang, Z., Guan, C., Zhang, L.*, Yang, T.*, & Xie, F.* (2024). Shellac-based materials: Structures, properties, and applications. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 279(1), 135102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.135102 [Gold OA] [Review article]

208. Guo, Y., Qiao, D., Zhao, S., Zhang, B.*, & Xie, F.* (2024). Advanced functional chitosan-based nanocomposite materials for performance-demanding applications. Progress in Polymer Science, 157, 101872. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2024.101872 [Gold OA] [Review article]

204. Xie, F.* (2024). Alginate-based nanocomposites for food preservation: Recent progress showcasing heightened material properties and functionalities. Advanced Nanocomposites, 1(1), 248-274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adna.2024.07.002 [Gold OA] [Review article]

197. Xian, D., Wu, L., Lin, K., Liu, P.*, Wu, S., Yuan, Y.*, & Xie, F.* (2024). Augmenting corn starch gel printability for architectural 3D modeling for customized food. Food Hydrocolloids, 156, 110294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.2024.110294 [Gold OA]

189. Chen, Y., Rao, Y., Liu, P.*, Wu, L., Zhang, G., Zhang, J.*, Xie, F.* (2024). High-amylose starch-based gel as green adhesive for plywood: Adhesive property, water-resistance, and flame-retardancy. Carbohydrate Polymers, 339, 122247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2024.122247 [Gold OA]

183. Sanandiya, N. D., Pai, A. R., Seyedin, S., Tang, F., Thomas, S., & Xie, F.* (2024). Chitosan-based electroconductive inks without chemical reaction for cost-effective and versatile 3D printing for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding and strain-sensing applications. Carbohydrate Polymers, 337, 122161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2024.122161 [Gold OA]

182. Xie, F.* (2024). Natural polymer starch-based materials for flexible electronic sensor development: A review of recent progress. Carbohydrate Polymers, 337, 122116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2024.122116 [Gold OA] [Review article]

176. Hou, X., Lin, L., Li, K., Jiang, F., Qiao, D.*, Zhang, B., & Xie, F.* (2024). Towards superior biopolymer gels by enabling interpenetrating network structures: A review on types, applications, and gelation strategies. Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, 325, 103113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cis.2024.103113 [Gold OA] [Review article]

175. Guo, Y., Qiao, D., Zhao, S., Liu, P., Xie, F.*, & Zhang, B.* (2024). Biofunctional chitosan–biopolymer composites for biomedical applications. Materials Science and Engineering: R: Reports, 159, 100775. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mser.2024.100775 [Gold OA] [Review article]

161. Xie, F.* (2023). Biopolymer-based multilayer films and coatings for food preservation: An update of the recent development. Current Food Science and Technology Reports, 1, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43555-023-00002-8 [Gold OA] [Review article]

144. Ahmad, M. M., Chatha, S. A. S., Iqbal, Y., Hussain, A. I., Khan, I., & Xie, F.* (2022). Recent trends in extraction, purification, and antioxidant activity evaluation of plant leaf-extract polysaccharides. Biofuels, Bioproducts & Biorefining, 16(6), 1820-1848. https://doi.org/10.1002/bbb.2405 [Gold OA] [Review article]

Book chapters

C8. Xie, F. (2024). Processing of polysaccharides. In S. Kenig, & A. Ophir (Eds.), Processing of Biodegradable Polymers (pp. 165-202). Munich, Germany: Hanser. https://doi.org/10.3139/9781569908747.006

C7. Xie, F. (2023). Chapter 4 – 3D printing of biopolymer-based hydrogels. In M. Mehrpouya, & H. Vahabi (Eds.), Additive Manufacturing of Biopolymers: Materials, Printing Techniques, and Applications (pp. 65-100). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-95151-7.00004-1

Datasets

D5. Chen, Y., Rao, Y., Liu, P., Han, Z., & Xie, F. (2024). Dataset for “Facile fabrication of a starch-based wood adhesive showcasing water resistance, flame retardancy, and antibacterial properties via a dual crosslinking strategy”. University of Bath Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.15125/BATH-01465

D4. Chen, Y., Rao, Y., Liu, P., Wu, L., Zhang, G., Zhang, J., & Xie, F. (2024). Dataset for “High-amylose starch-based gel as green adhesive for plywood: Adhesive property, water-resistance, and flame-retardancy”. University of Bath Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.15125/BATH-01436

D3. Xian, D., Wu, L., Lin, K., Liu, P., Wu, S., Yuan, Y., & Xie, F. (2024). Dataset for “Augmenting corn starch gel printability for architectural 3D modeling for customized food”. University of Bath Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.15125/BATH-01435

D2. Ramasamy, M. S., Kaliannagounder, V. K., Novakovic, K., Tang, F., & Xie, F. (2024). Data from research to develop alginate/vermiculite composite hydrogels for 4D printing. Newcastle University. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25405/data.ncl.26388550.v2

D1. Sanandiya, N. D., Pai, A. R., Seyedin, S., Tang, F., Thomas, S., & Xie, F. (2024). Data from research to develop chitosan-based electroconductive inks for 3D printing for EMI shielding and strain sensing applications. Newcastle University. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25405/data.ncl.23284328

Funder

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