The contamination of water resources by heavy metals poses a serious environmental risk, and conventional treatment methods face significant limitations. This review addresses the issue by presenting a critical analysis of the development of sustainable biosorbent and biopolymeric materials for heavy metal adsorption, highlighting advances, challenges, and future perspectives. To this end, a systematic bibliometric analysis of 120 documents was conducted, extracted from the Scopus and Web of Science databases, covering the period from 2003 to 2025. The results indicate exponential growth in scientific interest in biopolymers such as cellulose, chitosan, lignin, and alginate, especially in the form of aerogels, which demonstrate high adsorptive capacity through mechanisms such as complexation, chelation, and ion exchange. The analysis also reveals the main factors influencing process efficiency, such as pH, temperature, and contact time. It is concluded that, although these sustainable materials are highly promising, challenges related to scalability, selectivity in complex effluents, and regenerability still need to be overcome to enable their large-scale industrial application, in line with the principles of the circular economy.

This study investigates the sustainable use of Eucalyptus spp. bark through different chemical (hydrothermal, acid, alkaline, and bleaching) and physical (milling) pretreatments in the production of sustainable films. Valorization of agro-industrial residues and the demand for sustainable materials pose challenges for environmentally responsible solutions. Eucalyptus spp. bark, rich in cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, is a promising source for creating sustainable materials like films. In this study, the use of chemical and physical treatments aims to optimize biomass extraction and improve the chemical, thermal, mechanical, and optical properties of the films. The films showed an excellent light barrier capacity, with a transmittance below 1%. Crystallinity indices varied with the pretreatment: 8.15% for hydrothermal, 7.01% for alkaline, 7.63% for acid, and 10.80% for bleaching. The highest crystallinity value was obtained through bleaching, by removing amorphous components like lignin and hemicellulose. The alkaline pretreatment yielded stronger films (maximum stress of 8.8 MPa, Young’s modulus of 331.3 MPa) owing to the retained lignin and the hemicellulose reinforcing the material. This study contributes to the field of sustainable development by converting residues into valuable materials and by advancing the circular economy. The films’ specific properties make them suitable for applications like sustainable packaging, addressing environmental and industrial challenges.

Silica-rich rice husk ash (RHA) was upcycled as an inorganic filler to engineer cellulose acetate (CA) films with tunable properties for higher-value sustainable packaging. Composite films were produced by solvent casting, varying RHA loading with and without glycerol plasticization. FTIRconfirmed the chemical integrity of CA and indicated an increase in hydroxyl interactions in glycerol-plasticized films. Optical microscopy showed that RHA progressively induces particle domains and aggregation, while glycerol improves dispersion and surface uniformity. These microstructural effects translated into controllable optical–mechanical trade-offs: neat CA remained highly transparent, whereas RHA reduced transmittance. Glycerol had a minor effect effect on transmittance, indicating that shielding is primarily governed by the ash-derived inorganic domains and tensile testing highlighted an optimal low-filler regime. A small RHA addition maximized strength and stiffness in non-plasticized films. Contact-angle measurements in neutral and alkaline media indicated pH-sensitive wetting, with faster deterioration under alkaline conditions. Thermogravimetric analysis confirmed increased char residue with RHA addition and that glycerol introduces an early mass-loss stage. Overall, the CA/RHA platform offers a simple and potentially scalable route to upcycled, silica-reinforced films, and the formulation of CA and 1.33 wt% RHA (without glycerol) stands out as a robust secondary layer with low transmittance in the UV-Vis range, making it suitable for high-value light-sensitive flexible healthcare packaging, such as protective overwraps or translucent pouches.

This study introduces cellulose films enriched with vitamin A/E liposomes as sustainable, bioactive dressings for tattoo aftercare. Morphological analysis showed a smoother, more continuous microtexture than the neat cellulose films, while x‐ray diffraction indicated reduced crystallinity upon liposome incorporation. Optically, the liposome–cellulose films combined strong ultraviolet shielding across 300–400 nm with visible transparency. Time‐resolved contact‐angle measurements placed them between neat cellulose and polyurethane, indicating controlled fluid uptake consistent with a moist, non‐occlusive interface. Thermogravimetry revealed a higher peak degradation temperature with only a minimal change in onset. In uniaxial tension, the films reached a peak modulus of 16 GPa and maximum strength of 290 MPa at 50°C temperature, approaching high‐performance nanocellulose benchmarks. Together, these results show that liposome–cellulose films integrate UV shielding, tunable wettability, and enhanced thermal‐mechanical response, advancing a bio‐based alternative to conventional dressings for newly tattooed skin.