Plastics have found widespread use in the fields of cosmetic, engineering, and medical sciences due to their wide-ranging mechanical and physical properties, as well as suitability in biomedical applications. However, in the light of the environmental cost of further upscaling current methods of synthesizing many plastics, work has recently focused on the manufacture of these polymers using biological methods (often bacterial fermentation), which brings with them the advantages of both low temperature synthesis and a reduced reliance on potentially toxic and non-eco-friendly compounds. This can be seen as a boon in the biomaterials industry, where there is a need for highly bespoke, biocompatible, processable polymers with unique biological properties, for the regeneration and replacement of a large number of tissue types, following disease. However, barriers still remain to the mass-production of some of these polymers, necessitating new research. This review attempts a critical analysis of the contemporary literature concerning the use of a number of bacteria-derived polymers in the context of biomedical applications, including the biosynthetic pathways and organisms involved, as well as the challenges surrounding their mass production. This review will also consider the unique properties of these bacteria-derived polymers, contributing to bioactivity, including antibacterial properties, oxygen permittivity, and properties pertaining to cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation. Finally, the review will select notable examples in literature to indicate future directions, should the aforementioned barriers be addressed, as well as improvements to current bacterial fermentation methods that could help to address these barriers.

Cellulose of bacterial origin, known as bacterial cellulose (BC), is one of the most versatile biomaterials that has a huge potential in tissue engineering due to its favourable mechanical properties, high hydrophilicity, crystallinity, and purity. Additional properties such as porous nano-fibrillar 3D structure and a high degree of polymerisation of BC mimic the properties of the native extracellular matrix (ECM), making it an excellent material for the fabrication of composite scaffolds suitable for cell growth and tissue development. Recently, the fabrication of BC-based scaffolds, including composites and blends with nanomaterials, and other biocompatible polymers has received particular attention owing to their desirable properties for tissue engineering. These have proven to be promising advanced materials in hard and soft tissue engineering. This review presents the latest state-of-the-art modified/functionalised BC-based composites and blends as advanced materials in tissue engineering. Their applicability as an ideal biomaterial in targeted tissue repair including bone, cartilage, vascular, skin, nerve, and cardiac tissue has been discussed. Additionally, this review briefly summarises the latest updates on the production strategies and characterisation of BC and its composites and blends. Finally, the challenges in the future development and the direction of future research are also discussed.

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Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) envisage a potential biomaterial alternative to replacing synthetic polymers for their biodegradability and biocompatibility. Modification approaches exploit the attributes and adjust the intrinsic hydrophobic properties, such as blending to produce a new polymer mix with novel properties. Functionalization of PHA, especially chemical grafting, perform to introduce additional compounds covalently to PHA. As these methods address PHA potential and enable extensive utilization as a responsive material, reports are readily available in academia as confirmation. There are also substantial responsive PHA-based material applications in the biomedical area and agriculture materials, packaging materials, and nanocomposite materials.Article: Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA)-based responsive ...

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Grafting of medium-chain-length poly-3-hydroxyalkanoates (mcl-PHA) with glycerol 1,3-diglycerolate diacrylate (GDD) in acetone was performed using benzoyl peroxide as the initiator. A detailed mechanism scheme provides significant improvement to previous literature. Radical-mediated grafting generated α-β carbon inter-linking of mcl-PHA and GDD, resulting in a macromolecular structure with gel properties. The thermal properties of the copolymer for different graft yields were investigated as a function of initiator concentration, GDD monomer concentration, incubation period and temperature. The water absorption and porosity of the gel were significantly improved relative to neat mcl-PHA.

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a growing worldwide problem, which ultimately leads to End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). Current treatments for ESRD include haemodialysis and kidney transplantation, but both are...