Functional Materials from Renewable Sources

Substantial advances have been recently made with respect to the development of innovative, biopolymer-based functional materials using both up-to-date synthetic and instrumental-analytical tools. Current research in this field-to name but a few examples-targets electronic, photonic, magnetic, and hemocompatible high-performance functional materials, is increasingly based on bionic principles and bioinspiration, and uses sophisticated methods for tailoring the

properties for special applications. Nano (NEMS), micro (MEMS), and bio-micro electromechanical systems (bioMEMS) are further hot topics in functional material's research as billions of such devices are already manufactured annually for sensing, ink jet printing, automotive applications, communications,

and medicine. The present book, "Novel Functional Materials from Renewable Resources", has been prepared with the intention to convey an impression of the current state of research in this field , and to reflect the ample activities in this field that are currently going on worldwide. The compilation of topics is based on presentations given during the 241 Annual Spring Meeting of the American Chemical Society, held in Anaheim in March 2011, at a series of sessions of the ACS Cellulose

division.