Sustainable Hydrogels

Book excerpt: Sustainable Hydrogels: Synthesis, Properties and Applications highlights the development of sustainable hydrogels from various perspectives and covers a range of topics, including the development and utilization of abundant and/or inexpensive biorenewable monomers to create hydrogels; the mimicry of variable properties inherent to successful commercial hydrogels; and the creation of bio-based hydrogels that are functional equivalents of fossil fuel-derived hydrogels with respect to their properties, yet are capable of benign degradation over much shorter timescales. Some of the challenges facing sustainable polymer chemistry are also discussed. - Shifts the focus from theory to practice and demonstrates how the cradle-to-cradle approach support sustainability - Includes discussion of life cycle assessments in the production and use of hydrogels - Presents various materials for the production of hydrogels