Zein is a biodegradable and biocompatible material extracted from renewable resources; it comprises almost 80% of the whole protein content in corn. This review highlights and describes some zein and zein-based materials, focusing on biomedical applications. It was demonstrated in this review that the biodegradation and biocompatibility of zein are key parameters for its uses in the food-packing, biomedical and pharmaceutical fields. Furthermore, it was pointed out that the presence of hydrophilic-hydrophobic groups in zein chains is a very important aspect for obtaining material with different hydrophobicities by mixing with other moieties (polymeric or not), but also for obtaining derivatives with different properties. The physical and chemical characteristics and special structure (at the molecular, nano and micro scales) make zein molecules inherently superior to many other polymers from natural sources and synthetic ones. The film-forming property of zein and zein-based materials is important for several applications. The good electrospinnability of zein is important for producing zein and zein-based nanofibers for applications in tissue engineering and drug delivery. The use of zein’s hydrolysate peptides for reducing blood pressure is another important issue related to the application of derivatives of zein in the biomedical field. It is pointed out that the biodegradability and biocompatibility of zein and other inherent properties associated with zein’s structure allow a myriad of applications of such materials with great potential in the near future.

Chitosan (CS) is a polymer obtained from chitin, being this, after the cellulose, the most abundant polysaccharide. The fact of (i) CS being obtained from renewable sources; (ii) CS to possess capability for doing interactions with different moieties being such capability dependent of pH; (iii) plenty of possibilities for chemical modification of CS; and (iv) tuning the final properties of CS derivatives makes this polymer very interesting in academic and technological points of view. In this way, hydrogels based on CS and on CS derivatives have been widely used for biomedical applications. Other important technological applications can be also cited, such as adsorbent of metals and dyes in wastewater from industrial effluents. In pharmaceutical field, hydrogels based on CS are often used as drugs’ and proteins’ carrier formulations due to the inherent characteristics such as the biocompatibility, nontoxicity, hydrophilicity, etc. This chapter is an attempt for updating and joining the plenty of available information regarding the preparation, characterization, and biomedical application of hydrogels based on chitosan and chitosan derivatives. More than 260 references are provided, being the majority of them published in the last 10 years.

Blends of zein and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVAl) were processed in an internal mixer (150ºC, 50 rpm) for 5-8 minutes. Glycerol and oleic acid were used as plasticizers. The mixtures obtained were then compression molded and further characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), water-absorption experiments, mechanical tests, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). FTIR analysis indicated the existence of hydrogen bonding interactions between zein and PVAl. Tensile tests showed that the addition of PVAl increased the flexibility of the blends. The tensile strength ranged from 1.7 to 5.7 MPa, elongation at break ranged from 2.7 to 32% and Young’s modulus ranged from 433 to 7371 MPa. Water absorption at equilibrium decreased with increasing zein content, which favored a brittle behavior in the zein/PVAl. The blends were immiscible in the composition studied and the presence of voids indicated poor interfacial interaction between the polymers.

The air is a fundamental element for the life on Earth. Rapid urbanization and industrialization release large amounts of pollutants (harmful gases, microorganisms, and particulate matter, among others) into the atmosphere, leading to health hazards. Air filtration is still the most used and promising technique for protecting air against pollutants. The quality and efficiency of filtering process are dependent of material used for the filter and other filter’s properties. Several methods can be used for manufacturing filters, one of them uses fibrous membranes obtained through electrospinning from polymeric solutions. Electrospinning is a technique that combines the application of an electrostatic field to a moving fluid which results in the fibers formation. Electrospun membranes are constituted by fibers that the sizes spread on submicro and or nanometric scales. This review focuses on fiber membranes obtained by electrospinning for filtration of particulate matter. It is addressed the effect of solution, processing and ambient parameters on the morphology and dimensional characteristics of fiber membranes. The basic principles of air filtration and test and characterization of filter performance are presented. The research progress on electrospun nanofibers as air filters in recent years is summarized and examined. Finally, conclusion and future perspectives in electrospun fibers for air filtration are provided and discussed.

In this study, a polymer with characteristics analogous to that of the humic acid was obtained through oxidative polymerization in alkaline medium using para-benzoquinone as precursor, and compared to natural humic acid (HA) extracted from a soil. Complexes of as-prepared synthetic humic acid (SHA) with the Cu2+, Fe3+ and Mn2+ ions were also prepared. Elemental analysis and thermogravimetry were used for comparing the SHA characteristics with those of HA and for evaluating the effect of the metal-type for complexing with SH and SHA. Element analysis showed that SHA presented almost the same atomic constitution of HA, except for or sulfur and nitrogen contents, fact that is expected due to the precursor compounds. TGA curves of HA and SHA are quite similar in spite the thermogravimetic index (TGI) indicates higher aromatic portion in SHA. SHA-metallic ions (SHA-Cu2+, SHA-Fe3+ and SHA-Mn2+) complexes presented different thermal stability as compared among them and with the precursor SHA. The data indicate that the complexation is dependent of metallic ion-type and provokes different rearrangements in the SHA matrix.