Biomasses for the obtainment of new functional polymer materials

This thesis collects three years of work dedicated to the development of new polymeric systems based on the use of raw materials derived from biomasses. Biomasses are a very versatile renewable energy source with low environmental impact and are less expensive than the resources deriving from petroleum. Furthermore, the use of biomasses leads to environmental advantages. This PhD work is divided into two parts: the first one describes the works (someone already published by me and my group) in which cyclodextrins are chosen for the synthesis and characterization of crosslinked or non-crosslinked hydrogels, and polypseudorotaxane hydrogels. Moreover, they were also used for the synthesis of a new class of on cork-based materials, and for the synthesis of cyclodextrin-based lactic acid oligomers. While in the second one, methyl cellulose was chosen as starting material for the obtainment of semi-interpenetrating polymer network hydrogel systems.