Soy-Based Bioplastics

Book excerpt: Soy and its coproducts are rapidly emerging as one of the most prominent sustainable plastics of the 21st century. The relative abundance of soy and its functional and thermoplastic properties, low cost, and biodegradable characteristics have made it a material of great interest for widespread use in the plastics industry. As most of the functional properties of the final products are directly related to the physico-chemical properties of the raw material, a detailed knowledge of the inherent characteristics of soy-based materials is essential for understanding and manipulating their properties for better end-user applications.This book summarises in a most comprehensive manner the recent technical research accomplishments in the area of soy-based bioplastics. The prime aim and focus of this book is to present recent advances in the processing and applications of soy-based biopolymers as potential bioplastics. It reflects recent theoretical advances and experimental results, and opens new avenues for researchers as well as readers working in the field of plastics and sustainable materials.The different topics covered in this book include: structural analysis of soy-based materials; soy/biopolymer blends; films, fibres, foams, and composites; and different advanced applications. In addition, several critical issues and suggestions for future work are comprehensively discussed in the hope that the book will provide a deep insight into the state of the art of soy-based bioplastics. The book is unique, with contributions from leading experts in the bioplastics research area, and is a useful reference for scientists, academics, research scholars, and technologists.