N ature has long been a rich inspiration for artists and poets and an endless source of wonder for biologists to understand its workings. For millennia, humans have also relied on natural products in medicine, buildings or clothing and nature has inspired numerous technological inventions, architecture and design. But it is only recently that human efforts to exploit the design and functions of...

Sustainable development strategies, as well the shift toward a circular bioeconomy, has led to high interest in and implementation of technologies that efficiently utilize biomass raw material. Switching from fossil-based bio-based resources requires consideration many new challenges problems. One crucial issues is solubility lignocellulose or at least its ingredients. According trends legislat...

Typical construction materials and practices have a large ecological footprint. Many materials are energyintensive to produce, and construction and demolition debris constitutes a large percentage of U.S. landfill volume. Biocomposites are structural materials made from renewable resources that biodegrade in an anaerobic environment after their useful service life to produce a fuel or feedstock...

Thermoelectricity is a very important phenomenon, especially its significance in heat-electricity conversion. If thermoelectric devices can be effectively applied to the recovery of the renewable energies, such as waste heat and solar energy, the energy shortage, and global warming issues may be greatly relieved. This review focusses recent developments on the thermoelectric performance of a lo...

Critical survey of a selected class of pentacyclic triterpenes--the oleanane family, is presented based on current literature in order to underline their value for medicinal chemistry and drug development potential. Oleanenes may be considered as a renewable resource of valuable research materials which are structurally diverse, inherently biocompatible and have built-in affinity for many categ...

With the increasing environmental concerns such as sustainability and end-of-life disposal challenges, materials derived from renewable resources such as nanocellulose have been strongly advocated as potential replacements for packaging materials. Nanocellulose can be extracted from various plant resources through mechanical and chemical ways. Nanocellulose with its nanoscale dimensions, high c...