Recent advances in sago (Metroxylon sagu) fibres, biopolymers, biocomposites, and their prospective applications in industry: A comprehensive review.

Escalating petroleum depletion and environmental crises linked to conventional plastics have fueled interest in eco-friendly alternatives. Natural fibres and biopolymers are garnering increasing attention due to their sustainability. The sago palm (Metroxylon sagu), a tropical tree, holds potential for such materials, with cellulose-rich fibres (42.4-44.12 %) showcasing strong mechanics. Extracted sago palm starch can be blended, reinforced, or plasticised for improved traits. However, a comprehensive review of sago palm fibres, starch, and biocomposites is notably absent. This paper fills this void, meticulously assessing recent advancements in sago palm fibre, cellulose and starch properties, and their eco-friendly composite fabrication. Moreover, it uncovers the latent prospects of sago palm fibres and biopolymers across industries like automotive, packaging, and bioenergy. This review presents a crucial resource for envisaging and realising sustainable materials.

Use of Industrial Wastes as Sustainable Nutrient Sources for Bacterial Cellulose (BC) Production: Mechanism, Advances, and Future Perspectives.

A novel nanomaterial, bacterial cellulose (BC), has become noteworthy recently due to its better physicochemical properties and biodegradability, which are desirable for various applications. Since cost is a significant limitation in the production of cellulose, current efforts are focused on the use of industrial waste as a cost-effective substrate for the synthesis of BC or microbial cellulose. The utilization of industrial wastes and byproduct streams as fermentation media could improve the cost-competitiveness of BC production. This paper examines the feasibility of using typical wastes generated by industry sectors as sources of nutrients (carbon and nitrogen) for the commercial-scale production of BC. Numerous preliminary findings in the literature data have revealed the potential to yield a high concentration of BC from various industrial wastes. These findings indicated the need to optimize culture conditions, aiming for improved large-scale production of BC from waste streams.