The urgent need to replace fossil resource-based products is considerably increasing in the past few years, resulting in the search for more sustainable materials, with the aim of reducing the wastes from polymer pollution, solving economic and environmental issues. This is even more relevant in industrial fields, where toxic compounds are the basis of their polymeric formulations. Herein is reported the most relevant advances of epoxy resins (ERs) in the past decade, with great emphasis on the replacement of bisphenol A (BPA), leading to the production of renewable-based ERs with good properties. The synthesis of ERs based on renewable sources, such as vegetable oils, phenolic compounds, sugars and the outcome in the material's structure is explored within this review. Emphasis is also given to the use of new biobased curing agents and biofillers to enhance the biocharacter of the ERs.

Recently, the biomedical scientists who are working in the skin regeneration area have proposed asymmetric membranes as ideal wound dressings, since they are able to reproduce both layers of skin and improve the healing process as well as make it less painful. Herein, an electrospinning technique was used to produce new asymmetric membranes. The protective layer was composed of a blending solution between polycaprolactone and polylactic acid, whereas the underlying layer was comprised of methacrylated gelatin and chitosan. The chemical/physical properties, the in vitro hemo- and biocompatibility of the nanofibrous membranes were evaluated. The results obtained reveal that the produced membranes exhibited a wettability able to provide a moist environment at wound site. Moreover, the membranes’ hemocompatibility and fibroblast cell adhesion, spreading and proliferation at the surface of the membranes were also noticed in the in vitro assays. Such results highlight the suitability of these asymmetric membranes for wound dressing applications.

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