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Eng
Special Issues
Advanced Bioengineering Approaches for Biopolymers and Composites
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Advanced Bioengineering Approaches for Biopolymers and Composites

A special issue of Eng (ISSN 2673-4117). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2022) | Viewed by 13690

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Xuan Mu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
Interests: microfluidics; clinical diagnosis; 3D printing; biopolymers; disease modeling
Dr. Morgan Hawker

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University Fresno, 2555 East San Ramon Avenue, MS SB70 Fresno, CA 93740, USA
Interests: plasma surface modification; biopolymers; surface characterization
Dr. Feng Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Biological Science Research Center, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Interests: tissue engineering; biomedical materials; genetical engineering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biopolymers and their composites are instrumental to biomedicine and other relative fields due to their inherent material and biological properties. The huge potential of biopolymers and composites is related to various bioengineering approaches that can design, produce, regenerate, manufacture, shape, functionalize, modify, and recycle biopolymers. Innovative and advanced bioengineering approaches can drastically widen the utility scope of biopolymers and tailor the functionality of biopolymers for specific biomedical and clinical needs. These approaches include but are not limited to 3D printing, gene editing, soft lithography, nanocomposites, freeze-casting, molecular machine, and double networks. In this Special Issue, we aim to provide a concise collection of some notable aspects of prominent bioengineering approaches for advancing the utility of biopolymers. We hope this issue will be valuable to many researchers in interdisciplinary fields and inspire more works on various bioengineered biopolymers.

Dr. Xuan Mu
Dr. Morgan Hawker
Dr. Feng Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Eng is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biopolymers
  • bioengineering
  • 3d printing 
  • gene editing 
  • soft lithography
  • nanocomposites
  • molecular machine
  • double networks
  • natural polymer
  • naturally-derived polymer
  • biomimetic
  • polymer surface modification

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 2183 KiB  
Article
Techno-Economic Assessment of an Olive Mill Wastewater (OMWW) Biorefinery in the Context of Circular Bioeconomy
by Yannis Mouzakitis and Emmanuel D. Adamides
Eng 2022, 3(4), 488-503; https://doi.org/10.3390/eng3040035 - 18 Nov 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2307
Abstract
The concept of biorefinery constitutes a significant contributing factor to the emerging transition toward a sustainable bioeconomy. In such a context, replacing oil and petrochemicals by biomass may involve several feedstocks, platforms, processes, technologies, as well as final products. This paper concentrates on [...] Read more.
The concept of biorefinery constitutes a significant contributing factor to the emerging transition toward a sustainable bioeconomy. In such a context, replacing oil and petrochemicals by biomass may involve several feedstocks, platforms, processes, technologies, as well as final products. This paper concentrates on the complex process of transferring the concept of biorefinery from laboratory to industry, and sheds light on the techno-economic and complexity management dimensions involved in this endeavor. Toward this end, adopting a systems perspective, the paper presents a structured and comprehensive framework, comprising the definition of the transformation process, business model development, techno-economic assessment, as well as strategic positioning and viability assessment, which may be employed to facilitate the engineering at large and launch a biorefining venture in a circular bioeconomy context. The framework is applied in the context of a biorefinery plant in a specific region in southern Greece, which is based on the valorization of olive mill wastewater (a ‘strong’ and quite common industrial waste in the Mediterranean basin), and produces biopolymers (PHAs) and bioenergy (H2). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Bioengineering Approaches for Biopolymers and Composites)
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15 pages, 31887 KiB  
Article
Design Data and Finite Element Analysis of 3D Printed Poly(ε-Caprolactone)-Based Lattice Scaffolds: Influence of Type of Unit Cell, Porosity, and Nozzle Diameter on the Mechanical Behavior
by Riccardo Sala, Stefano Regondi and Raffaele Pugliese
Eng 2022, 3(1), 9-23; https://doi.org/10.3390/eng3010002 - 25 Dec 2021
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 7166
Abstract
Material extrusion additive manufacturing (MEAM) is an advanced manufacturing method that produces parts via layer-wise addition of material. The potential of MEAM to prototype lattice structures is remarkable, but restrictions imposed by manufacturing processes lead to practical limits on the form and dimension [...] Read more.
Material extrusion additive manufacturing (MEAM) is an advanced manufacturing method that produces parts via layer-wise addition of material. The potential of MEAM to prototype lattice structures is remarkable, but restrictions imposed by manufacturing processes lead to practical limits on the form and dimension of structures that can be produced. For this reason, such structures are mainly manufactured by selective laser melting. Here, the capabilities of fused filament fabrication (FFF) to produce custom-made lattice structures are explored by combining the 3D printing process, including computer-aided design (CAD), with the finite element method (FEM). First, we generated four types of 3D CAD scaffold models with different geometries (reticular, triangular, hexagonal, and wavy microstructures) and tunable unit cell sizes (1–5 mm), and then, we printed them using two nozzle diameters (i.e., 0.4 and 0.8 mm) in order to assess the printability limitation. The mechanical behavior of the above-mentioned lattice scaffolds was studied using FEM, combining compressive modulus (linear and nonlinear) and shear modulus. Using this approach, it was possible to print functional 3D polymer lattice structures with some discrepancies between nozzle diameters, which allowed us to elucidate critical parameters of printing in order to obtain printed that lattices (1) fully comply with FFF guidelines, (2) are capable of bearing different compressive loads, (3) possess tunable porosity, and (3) overcome surface quality and accuracy issues. In addition, these findings allowed us to develop 3D printed wrist brace orthosis made up of lattice structures, minimally invasive (4 mm of thick), lightweight (<20 g), and breathable (porosity >80%), to be used for the rehabilitation of patients with neuromuscular disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and beyond. Altogether, our findings addressed multiple challenges associated with the development of polymeric lattice scaffolds with FFF, offering a new tool for designing specific devices with tunable mechanical behavior and porosity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Bioengineering Approaches for Biopolymers and Composites)
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Review

Jump to: Research

25 pages, 4673 KiB  
Review
Macromolecules: Contemporary Futurist Thoughts on Progressive Journey
by Tomy Muringayil Joseph, Mohamed S. Hasanin, Aparna Beena Unni, Debarshi Kar Mahapatra, Jozef Haponiuk and Sabu Thomas
Eng 2023, 4(1), 678-702; https://doi.org/10.3390/eng4010041 - 22 Feb 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3103
Abstract
The 1920 paper by Hermann Staudinger, which introduced the groundbreaking theory of the existence of long-chain molecules made up of many covalently linked monomeric units, was remembered in 2020 for the 100th anniversary of its publication. This article and the follow-up works of [...] Read more.
The 1920 paper by Hermann Staudinger, which introduced the groundbreaking theory of the existence of long-chain molecules made up of many covalently linked monomeric units, was remembered in 2020 for the 100th anniversary of its publication. This article and the follow-up works of Staudinger on the subject serve as the basis for the study of macromolecular chemistry and polymer science. Although Staudinger saw the great potential of macromolecules, he most likely did not predict the repercussions of their widespread use. We are confronting an environmental and public health crisis with 6.3 billion metric tons of plastic garbage contaminating our land, water, and air. Synthetic polymer chemists can contribute to a more sustainable future, but are we on the right track? In this regard, this review provides insights into the trends, or perspectives, on the current, past, and future developments in macromolecular chemistry to promote an increased emphasis on “sustainable polymers”. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Bioengineering Approaches for Biopolymers and Composites)
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