Microwave-assisted modifications of polysaccharides

Polysaccharides are a natural and renewable feed stock for synthesizing high performance macromolecular materials. However, their structure does not allow reaching all properties required for specific applications and chemical modifications are necessary to reach such objectives. Despite the use of natural polymers, the chemistry and processes employed are not environment-friendly due to the nature of chemicals, solvents or because the conventional chemical process are energy-consuming. On the other hand, microwave assisted processes were developed in organic chemistry since the 1980s and more recently for polymer chemistry (polymer formation and modification). Within the chemistry of natural polymers, the use of microwave irradiation has been exploited in the past two decades to alleviate limitations in the synthesis of graft modified polysaccharide materials. Microwave heating is described as more homogeneous, selective and efficient as compared to conventional heating resulting in faster reactions with fewer or no side products as example. Different results reported within the recent literature will be discussed considering the role of microwave irradiation and its consequence on the reaction parameters and properties of final materials. Grafting of polysaccharides, specific modification of polysaccharides or fibers particularly for preparing smart textiles or medical products as well as reactions of polysaccharides to valuable bio-platform molecule will be discussed.