Polysaccharides II

As the most important skeletal component in plants and also a substance produced by certain bacteria, polysaccharide cellulose is an almost inexhaustible polymeric raw material with a fascinating structure and interesting properties. The fusion of both carbohydrate and polymer chemistry in a macromolecule biosynthetically composed of repeating glucose units generates surprising specificity and impressively diverse supramolecular/morphological structures, reactivities, and functions. Since the discovery of cellulose by Anselme Payen in 1838, the start of large scale cellulose ester, ether, and ?ber production (which started more than 100 years ago), and the extensive scientific investigations ofcellulose by Hermann Staudinger in 1920, cellulose research and product development have been redefined by the increasingly more significant impact of such work. During the past 5–10 years a considerable increase in knowledge of the structure, chemistry, and processing of cellulose, as well as development of innovative cellulose products, has been observed. New frontiers involve sophisticated methods of structural analysis, environmentally safe cellulose-ber technologies, as well as progressive work with bacterial nanocellulose, (bio)materials, and a broad spectrum of cellulose composites. Associated with this trend, related polysaccharides like hemicelluloses, d- tran, chitin, and starch have also attracted growing interest. Illustrative examples of this exciting evolution are presented in five selected contributions from international experts in their fields in this special volume titled Polysaccharides II within the series Advances in Polymer Science. This serves as a follow-up to Polysaccharides I (vol. 186). The comprehensive - views stem from the authors’ own research experience and demonstrate clearly the latest scientifc results and their practical applications as well as the interdisciplinary character of the subject and its importance to polymer science.