Recent developments within the topic of biomaterials has taken hold of researchers due to the mounting concern of current environmental pollution as well as scarcity resources. Amongst all compatible biomaterials, polycaprolactone (PCL) is deemed to be a great potential biomaterial, especially to the tissue engineering sector, due to its advantages, including its biocompatibility and low bioactivity exhibition. The commercialization of PCL is deemed as infant technology despite of all its advantages. This contributed to the disadvantages of PCL, including expensive, toxic, and complex. Therefore, the shift towards the utilization of PCL as an alternative biomaterial in the development of biocomposites has been exponentially increased in recent years. PCL-based biocomposites are unique and versatile technology equipped with several importance features. In addition, the understanding on the properties of PCL and its blend is vital as it is influenced by the application of biocomposites. The superior characteristics of PCL-based green and hybrid biocomposites has expanded their applications, such as in the biomedical field, as well as in tissue engineering and medical implants. Thus, this review is aimed to critically discuss the characteristics of PCL-based biocomposites, which cover each mechanical and thermal properties and their importance towards several applications. The emergence of nanomaterials as reinforcement agent in PCL-based biocomposites was also a tackled issue within this review. On the whole, recent developments of PCL as a potential biomaterial in recent applications is reviewed.

The prolonged survival of microbes on surfaces in high-traffic/high-contact environments drive the need for a more consistent and passive form of surface sterilization to minimize the risk of infection. Due...

The utilization of lignocellulosic biomass in various applications has a promising potential as advanced technology progresses due to its renowned advantages as cheap and abundant feedstock. The main drawback in the utilization of this type of biomass is the essential requirement for the pretreatment process. The most common pretreatment process applied is chemical pretreatment. However, it is a non-eco-friendly process. Therefore, this review aims to bring into light several greener pretreatment processes as an alternative approach for the current chemical pretreatment. The main processes for each physical and biological pretreatment process are reviewed and highlighted. Additionally, recent advances in the effect of different non-chemical pretreatment approaches for the natural fibres are also critically discussed with a focus on bioproducts conversion.

Change of pH has been identified as the most significant parameter in modulating the transition between the conversions of acids into solvents in acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation by Clostridia. Thus, ABE fermentation at various phosphate buffer concentrations and initial pH values was conducted using pure glucose and sugars derived from pretreated oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB). A higher solvent concentration (2.93 g/L) was obtained in the fermentation using 20 g/L of glucose with buffer compared with one without buffer that produced 1.34 g/L of solvents. Approximately 8.77 and 9.15 g/L of solvents were produced from fermentation using 40 g/L of glucose with and without buffer, respectively. In the latter conditions, at an initial pH of 5.5, 8.77 g/L of solvents was obtained, which was the highest concentration compared to other initial pH values. Increasing the buffer concentration to 0.2 M at an initial pH of 6.0 resulted in acid accumulation of 16.83 g/L but reduced the solvent production to 1.36 g/L. In addition, ABE fermentation using 20 g/L of sugars from pretreated OPEFB produced 2.25 g/L of solvents with a yield of 0.13 g/g, which was comparable with fermentation using 20 g/L of glucose conducted in a buffering system.