Vegetable oils are mainly esters of fatty acids and glycerol, which can be converted to fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), also known as biodiesel, by the transesterification reaction with methanol. In order to attain environmental benignity, a large attention has been focused in the last decades on utilizing heterogeneous catalysts for biodiesel production instead the homogenously catalyzed transesterification of vegetable oil. The pure CaO or CaO mixed with some other metal oxide due to its low solubility in methanol, FAME and glycerol, low cost and availability is one of the most promising among the proposed heterogeneous catalysts. Solid catalysts which contain CaO usually fulfill a number of important requirements, such as high activity at mild temperature, marginal leaching of Ca cations, long life activity, reusability in transesterification of vegetable oil and easy recovery from the final products of transesterification (FAME and glycerol). This review is focused to the recent application of pure CaO or CaO in complex catalyst structure and their use as heterogeneous base catalysts for biodiesel synthesis and suitability for industrial application.

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) stands out as the most promising biodegradable alternative to conventional petrochemical‐based polymers for manufacturing of high‐performance materials applied in medicine, pharmacy, food, textile, and electronic industry. This review was aimed to present the conventional and up‐to‐date technologies for PLA processing including melt blending and molding, hot melt extrusion, 3D printing, foaming, impregnation, thermally induced phase separation, nano‐ and microparticles preparation, wet and dry spinning processes. In addition, the effect of the processing parameters and polymer characteristics on the properties of the final material was elaborated. Diverse possibilities to tailor properties of PLA‐based materials by variation in polymer characteristics and concentration, solvent selection, drying method, processing pressure and temperature, incorporation of bioactive components, and so on were highlighted. The examples of the relations between processing methods, parameters, and end‐product properties are given for a better understanding of all aspects that need to be perceived for fabrication of PLA‐based materials with required performances.