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Thermoplastic Starch: A Green Material for Various Industries

ISBN: 978-3-527-32528-3

November 2009

255 pages

Description
As we begin to run out of landfill space and turn towards a greener way of living, we need to find new biodegradable materials which are recyclable and which can be disposed of efficiently. Thermoplastic starch is a newly developed biodegradable material made from renewable sources, which is optimal in view of sustainability. It has huge potential in various applications including packaging, controlled release and disposable products (e.g. drugs). It satisfies all EU environmental regulations and can also be safely applied to the food sector. This monograph introduces this new green material, which is available in abundance and can be created at a relatively low cost to different specifications. It brings together many important areas including production and applications of biopolymeric material, the fundamental knowledge and practical applications, and includes valuable experimental case studies, which can be directly used in industrial practice.
Literature which is scattered across many journals and websites is brought together to enable the reader to gain an understanding of this new material.
About the Author
Leon P.B. Janssen is chairman of the department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Groningen, Netherlands. After his PhD at Delft University of Technology, he started working there and at the University of Delaware (USA).
He has authored over 200 scientific publications and 5 books. He is member of the Royal Dutch Society of Sciences and the Royal Institution of Engineers. He is a visiting professor of Harbin Institute of Technology (China) and of the University of Surabaya (Indonesia).

Leszeck Moscicki is head of the Department of Food Process Engineering of Lublin University of Life Sciences and Technology. After his PhD at Lublin Agricultural University he worked for four years at Wageningen Agricultural University after which he returned to Lublin. He authored and co-authored more than 150 scientific publications. He is a national delegate to International Association of Cerial Science and Technology, committee member of the Polish Academy of Science and several other Polish scientific and professional associations. He has been coordinator of several EU projects on processing of vegetable raw material.