This book presents important developments in green chemistry, with a particular focus on composite materials chemistry. In recent years, natural polymers have generated much interest due to their unique morphology and physical properties. The book gives an introductory overview of green composites, and discusses their emerging interdisciplinary applications in various contemporary fields. The chapters, written by leading experts from industry and academia, cover different aspects of biodegradable green composites and natural polymers including their processing, manufacturing, properties, and applications. This book will be a valuable reference for beginners, researchers as well as industry professionals interested in biodegradable composites.
Prof. Sabu Thomas is the Director of the International and Interuniversity Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology and full professor of Polymer Science and Engineering at the School of Chemical Sciences of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India. He is an outstanding leader with sustained international acclaims for his work in Polymer Science and Engineering, Polymer Nanocomposites, Elastomers, Polymer Blends, Interpenetrating Polymer Networks, Polymer Membranes, Green Composites and Nanocomposites, Nanomedicine and Green Nanotechnology. Dr. Thomas’s ground breaking inventions in polymer nanocomposites, polymer blends, green bionanotechnological and nano-biomedical sciences, have made transformative differences in the development of new materials for automotive, space, housing and biomedical fields. Professor Thomas has received a number of national and international awards which include: Fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry, London, Distinguished Professorship from Josef Stefan Institute, Slovenia, MRSI medal, Nano Tech Medal, CRSI medal, Distinguished Faculty Award, and Sukumar Maithy Award for the best polymer researcher in the country. He is in the list of most productive researchers in India and holds a position of No.5. Very recently, because of the outstanding contributions to the field of Polymer Science and Engineering, Prof. Thomas has been conferred Honoris Causa (DSc) by the University of South Brittany, Lorient, France. Professor Thomas has published over 600 peer reviewed research papers, reviews and book chapters. He has co-edited 50 books published by Royal Society, Wiley, Wood head, Elsevier, CRC Press, Springer, Nova etc. He is the inventor of 6 patents. The h-index of Prof. Thomas is 72 and has more than 21,000 citations. Prof. Thomas has delivered over 300 Plenary/Inaugural and Invited lectures in national/international meetings over 30 countries. He has established a state of the art laboratory at Mahatma Gandhi University in the area of Polymer Science and Engineering and Nanoscience and Nanotechnology through external funding form DST, CSIR, TWAS, UGC, DBT, DRDO, AICTE, ISRO, DIT, TWAS, KSCSTE, BRNS, UGC-DAE, Du Pont, USA, General Cables, USA, Surface Treat Czech Republic, MRF Tyres and Apollo Tyres. Professor Thomas has several international collaborative projects with a large number of countries abroad. He has already supervised 70 doctoral theses.
Dr. Preetha Balakrishnan is a Principal Scientist, QA/QC ADSO Naturals India and Curesupport Netherlands. She Completed her Ph. D in Chemistry from Mahatma Gandhi University Kottayam. Her area of expertise is Polymer Science and Engineering, Polymer Nanocomposites, Elastomers, Polymer Blends, Interpenetrating Polymer Networks, Polymer Membranes, Green Composites and Nanocomposites, Nanomedicine and Green Nanotechnology. Her area of research includes preparation of starch-based films, blends and nanocomposites and nutraceuticals. She has published over 20 peer-reviewed research papers, reviews and book chapters. She has also co-edited 3 books published by Wood head, Elsevier. She has more than 5-year experience in polymer synthesis and composite science, and has presented several papers in national and international conferences.
