Handbook of Natural Polymers, Volume 1

Dr M.S. Sreekala is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the Postgraduate Research Department of Chemistry, Sree Sankara College, Kalady, India. Her research interests include polymer composites, biodegradable and green composites, and thermosetting materials. She has published more than 50 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has edited 6 books. Dr. Sreekala received the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt post-doctoral fellowship from the Humboldt Foundation, Bonn, Germany, and conducted research at the Institute for Composite Materials, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany. She was also awarded a post-doctoral fellowship from the Japan Society for Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan, and conducted research at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yamaguchi University, Japan. She has organized many national and international conferences and delivered invited talks at many international conferences within India and abroad. Lakshmipriya Ravindran, is a Senior Research Fellow at the Postgraduate Research Department of Chemistry, Sree Sankara College, Kalady, India. Her research interests include polymer nanocomposites, nanofillers of bio origin, carbon nanotubes, the incorporation of nanofillers to thermosetting polymers, and their applications. She has attended, and presented papers at, several international conferences and seminars, published peer-reviewed research articles in international journals, and has authored two book chapters. Prof. Koichi Goda is Chair of Mechanical Engineering and Full Professor, in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, at Yamaguchi University, Japan. Prof. Goda has significant experience in areas including biopolymers, composite materials, reliability, and nanotechnology, with recent research focusing on green composites. He has received numerous awards for his work in including most recently the Meritorious Contribution Award from JCOM (Committee on Composite Materials of JSMS - The Society of Materials Science, Japan) in 2018, and the JSMS Award for Distinguished Service to Chugoku Branch in 2020. Prof. Sabu Thomas is Vice Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi University, and Director of the School of Energy Materials, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India. He is one of India's most renowned scientists in the area of polymer science. After completing his Ph.D. from IIT Kharagpur (1984-1987), he joined MG University as a Lecturer in 1997 and later became its Vice Chancellor. He has taken up a large number of visiting assignments abroad. Under his leadership, the University has been ranked 713th by TIMES, 30th in NIRF and the best university in Kerala. He has supervised 120 Ph.D. students, authored 1,300 publications and edited 150 books with approximately 60,000 citations. He has received Honoris Causa degrees from Russia and France and led numerous research projects in India and abroad. He has been ranked 114th in the list of the world's best scientists and 2nd in India by the Stanford University Ranking in Polymers. He was also elected as a Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences.