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Polymers
Special Issues
Marine Polymeric Materials and Biomimetics
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Marine Polymeric Materials and Biomimetics

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomacromolecules, Biobased and Biodegradable Polymers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2020) | Viewed by 21392

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Susana C. M. Fernandes

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institut des Sciences Analytiques et de Physico-Chimie pour l’Environnement et les Materiaux, UMR 5254, 64053 Pau, France
Interests: biopolymers; (bio)materials; bionanocomposites; functional polimeric materials; marine inspiration/biomimetics; valorization marine biomass; red and blue biotechnology; marine bioactive molecules; tissue engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The marine environment is a unique source of natural polymers and bioactive molecules with specific biological, physicochemical and structural properties. Moreover, marine organisms are also an incredible source of inspiration for the design and development of sustainable and functional (bio)materials.

This Special Issue will focus on the use of metabolites, biomolecules and enzymes from organisms living in aquatic environments and/or on marine-inspired principles to develop materials (i.e. by mimicking the functionality and structure of marine organisms), which can potentially solve current societal and environmental problems such as pollution, disposal of hazardous materials, and more. It will focus on the biodiversity of the marine environment and on the key properties of residues and by-products as high added-value materials for achieving biomedical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food and nutrition and biotechnological applications.

The topics are not limited to these studies, and can cover all research areas concerning marine polymeric materials and marine inspiration/biomimetics. I would like to bring together a collection of wide-reaching reviews from leading experts and cutting edge research from prominent groups in the community in order to provide a general overview of this interesting research topic. This Special Issue will publish full research papers, letters, communications, and review manuscripts.

Considering your significant contribution to this research topic, I would like to cordially invite you to submit an article to this Special Issue.

The manuscript should be submitted online before 31 March 2020.

I would very much appreciate if you would consider being one of our authors.

Dr. Susana C.M. Fernandes
Guest Editor

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. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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

  • Marine bioactive molecules
  • Marine biopolymers (polysaccharides and proteins)
  • Marine biomimetics
  • Blue economy
  • Blue biotechnology
  • Valorization of marine resources and by-products
  • Marine biomaterials design
  • Sustainable materials

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 4569 KiB  
Article
New Strategy to Cope with Common Fishery Policy Landing Obligation: Collagen Extraction from Skins and Bones of Undersized Hake (Merluccius merluccius)
by María Blanco, Carmen G. Sotelo and Ricardo I. Pérez-Martín
Polymers 2019, 11(9), 1485; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym11091485 - 11 Sep 2019
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2972
Abstract
In order to promote sustainable fishing practices within European fishing fleets and to avoid the large waste of valuable fish biomass through the practice of fish discarding, the new reform of the common fisheries policy includes the obligation of landing all species under [...] Read more.
In order to promote sustainable fishing practices within European fishing fleets and to avoid the large waste of valuable fish biomass through the practice of fish discarding, the new reform of the common fisheries policy includes the obligation of landing all species under total allowable catch (TAC) regulations. The new policy also prohibits the use of specimens under minimum conservation reference size for direct human cons38umption. In this context, it is necessary to find new uses for undersized fish, which might help to alleviate the costs associated with the landing obligation but without prompting the creation of a market. European hake (EH) (Merluccius merluccius), which is one of the most important commercial fish species for the Spanish fishing industry, with a total TAC for 2018 of 37,423 t, is used for this study. Consistent with the current policy framework and taking into account the commercial importance of this species, the aim of this work is to study a new strategy for the extraction of collagen from the skin and bone fraction of Merluccius merluccius undersized discards. Three collagen fractions are successfully isolated for the first time from the skin of M. merluccius skin and bone discarded raw material: acid-soluble collagen (ASC) fraction 1 and pepsin-soluble collagen (PSC) fraction 2 from the skin and ASC fraction 3 from bones. The total collagen yield of the process is 13.55 ± 3.18% in a dry basis (g collagen/100 g of skin and bone fraction (SBF)) and 47.80 ± 9.83% (g collagen/100 g of collagen determined by the hydroxyproline content in SBF). The three fractions are further characterized by using different physical and chemical analysis techniques, with the conclusion drawn that the triple helix structure is preserved in the three fractions, although ASC fractions (F1 and F3) present more or stronger hydrogen bonds than the PSC fraction (F2). With the process herein presented, deboned and skinned hake specimens could represent an interesting source of high quality type I collagen, which could be useful as a raw material for the biomedical, cosmetic, and nutraceutical industries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Polymeric Materials and Biomimetics)
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14 pages, 2756 KiB  
Article
Effects of Various Antifouling Coatings and Fouling on Marine Sonar Performance
by Bradley Donnelly, Ian Bedwell, Jim Dimas, Andrew Scardino, Youhong Tang and Karl Sammut
Polymers 2019, 11(4), 663; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym11040663 - 11 Apr 2019
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3612
Abstract
There is a rising imperative to increase the operational availability of maritime vessels by extending the time between full docking cycles. To achieve operational efficacy, maritime vessels must remain clear of biological growth. Such growth can cause significant increases in frictional drag, thereby [...] Read more.
There is a rising imperative to increase the operational availability of maritime vessels by extending the time between full docking cycles. To achieve operational efficacy, maritime vessels must remain clear of biological growth. Such growth can cause significant increases in frictional drag, thereby reducing speed, range and fuel efficiency and decreasing the sensitivity of acoustic sensors. The impact that various stages of fouling have on acoustic equipment is unclear. It is also unclear to what extent antifouling techniques interfere with the transmission of acoustic signals. In this study, to examine this effect, neoprene samples were coated with three antifouling coatings, namely, Intersmooth 7460HS, HempaGuard X7 and Hempasil X3. Other neoprene samples were left uncoated but were imbedded with the biocide, 4,5-dichloro-2-octyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one (DCOIT) during the mixing and curing process. Uncoated nitrile samples that had varying levels of fouling from immersion in Port Phillip Bay, Australia, for 92, 156 and 239 days were also extracted. The acoustic properties of these samples were measured using an acoustic insertion loss test and compared to uncoated neoprene or nitrile to ascertain the acoustic effects of the applications of antifouling coatings as well as the fouling growth itself. A T-peel test was performed on all coated samples in an attempt to understand the adhesive properties of the coatings when applied to neoprene. It was found that the application of antifouling coatings had little effect on the transmission characteristics of the neoprene with approximately 1 dB loss. The embedment of DCOIT, however, has a chance of causing aeration in the neoprene, which can heavily hamper transmission. An assessment of the effect of the fouling growth found that light and medium fouling levels produced little transmission loss, whereas more extreme fouling lead to a 9 dB transmission loss. The adhesion properties of the coatings were investigated but not fully ascertained as tensile yielding occurred before peeling. However, various failure modes are presented and discussed in this study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Polymeric Materials and Biomimetics)
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Review

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37 pages, 11184 KiB  
Review
Extraction of Nanochitin from Marine Resources and Fabrication of Polymer Nanocomposites: Recent Advances
by Blessy Joseph, Rubie Mavelil Sam, Preetha Balakrishnan, Hanna J. Maria, Sreeraj Gopi, Tatiana Volova, Susana C. M. Fernandes and Sabu Thomas
Polymers 2020, 12(8), 1664; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12081664 - 27 Jul 2020
Cited by 48 | Viewed by 6720
Abstract
Industrial sea food residues, mainly crab and shrimp shells, are considered to be the most promising and abundant source of chitin. In-depth understanding of the biological properties of chitin and scientific advancements in the field of nanotechnology have enabled the development of high-performance [...] Read more.
Industrial sea food residues, mainly crab and shrimp shells, are considered to be the most promising and abundant source of chitin. In-depth understanding of the biological properties of chitin and scientific advancements in the field of nanotechnology have enabled the development of high-performance chitin nanomaterials. Nanoscale chitin is of great economic value as an efficient functional and reinforcement material for a wide range of applications ranging from water purification to tissue engineering. The use of polymers and nanochitin to produce (bio) nanocomposites offers a good opportunity to prepare bioplastic materials with enhanced functional and structural properties. Most processes for nanochitin isolation rely on the use of chemical, physical or mechanical methods. Chitin-based nanocomposites are fabricated by various methods, involving electrospinning, freeze drying, etc. This review discusses the progress and new developments in the isolation and physico-chemical characterization of chitin; it also highlights the processing of nanochitin in various composite and functional materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Polymeric Materials and Biomimetics)
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31 pages, 1088 KiB  
Review
Marine-Derived Polymeric Materials and Biomimetics: An Overview
by Marion Claverie, Colin McReynolds, Arnaud Petitpas, Martin Thomas and Susana C. M. Fernandes
Polymers 2020, 12(5), 1002; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12051002 - 26 Apr 2020
Cited by 53 | Viewed by 7033
Abstract
The review covers recent literature on the ocean as both a source of biotechnological tools and as a source of bio-inspired materials. The emphasis is on marine biomacromolecules namely hyaluronic acid, chitin and chitosan, peptides, collagen, enzymes, polysaccharides from algae, and secondary metabolites [...] Read more.
The review covers recent literature on the ocean as both a source of biotechnological tools and as a source of bio-inspired materials. The emphasis is on marine biomacromolecules namely hyaluronic acid, chitin and chitosan, peptides, collagen, enzymes, polysaccharides from algae, and secondary metabolites like mycosporines. Their specific biological, physicochemical and structural properties together with relevant applications in biocomposite materials have been included. Additionally, it refers to the marine organisms as source of inspiration for the design and development of sustainable and functional (bio)materials. Marine biological functions that mimic reef fish mucus, marine adhesives and structural colouration are explained. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Polymeric Materials and Biomimetics)
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