Sustainable films and coatings from hemicelluloses: a review

This review summarizes the results of past research on films and coatings from hemicelluloses, biopolymers that are as yet relatively unexploited commercially. The targeted uses of hemicelluloses have primarily been packaging films and coatings for foodstuffs as well as biomedical applications. Oxygen permeability of hemicellulose films, an important characteristic for food packaging, was typically comparable to values found for other biopolymer films such as amylose and amylopectin. As expected, the modification of hemicelluloses to create more hydrophobic films reduced the water vapor permeability. However, modified hemicellulose coatings intended for food still exhibited water vapor permeabilities several magnitudes higher than those of other polymers currently used for this purpose. Research on hemicelluloses for biomedical applications has included biocompatible hydrogels and coatings and material surfaces with enhanced cell affinity. Numerous possibilities exist for chemically modifying hemicelluloses, and fundamental studies of films from modified hemicelluloses have identified other potential applications, including selective membranes.