Controlled Structuring of Heterophase Biopolymers at the Micro and Nano Scale

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The use of biopolymers has seen dramatic growth in the last decade. Although the escalation of biopolymers' use is impressive, the materials presently on the market suffer from a range of systemic performance weaknesses and these weaknesses currently represent barriers to their sustained growth worldwide. The blending of biopolymers to generate heterophase systems is considered to be one of the main approaches to overcome these inherent property limitations. In this project we will concentrate on micro- and nano-phase structuring through morphology and interface control in multiphase biopolymer systems as a route towards the development of next-generation biomaterials. Thermodynamically stable ternary, quaternary and quinary biopolymer systems will be studied. Co-continuous morphologies and encapsulated droplet-in-droplet structures are sophisticated microstructures which can be used to develop completely new property sets as compared to the classical droplet-in-matrix type systems. The controlled localization of nanoinclusions within these multiphase biopolymer systems and the potential of such a system for conductive applications will be examined. The transformation of these complex structures into porous materials and their potential for controlled drug release will also be explored.