Carla Vilela (PhD), postdoctoral researcher at CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro.

Her research interests are dedicated to the sustainable use of biopolymers (bacterial cellulose, chitosan, alginate, pullulan, proteins, etc.) to design and engineer functional nanostructured materials for both biomedical (e.g. drug delivery and wound healing) and technological (e.g. active packaging and fuel cells) applications.

Ricardo Pinto (PhD), Post-Doc Researcher at CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials and TEMA (Centre of Mechanical Technology and Automation of Aveiro), University of Aveiro

 Research interests: metallic nanoparticles biosynthesis using plant extracts and preparation and characterization of biobased nanocomposites materials for antimicrobial, catalytic, and conductive applications.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5600-2396). 

Susana Pinto is a PhD student at the Centre of Mechanical Technology and Automation of Aveiro (TEMA-NRG), Department of Mechanical Engineering - University of Aveiro, holding a doctoral grant from the Portuguese Foundation from Science and Technology (SFRH/BD/111515/2015).

Her current interests include the preparation and characterization of multifunctional nanocomposite materials based on cellulose/graphene cellular materials.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2658-1045

Paula Marques (PhD), Principal Researcher at TEMA (Centre of Mechanical Technology and Automation of Aveiro) from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Aveiro.

Research interests: engineering and development of mechanical and electrical stimulus responsive 3D graphene/polymer fibrous scaffolds for tissue engineering; production and application of functionalized graphene-based foams for water remediation; graphene oxide/polymer nanocomposite fibre mats obtained by electrospinning for photocatalytic degradation of pollutants in aqueous and gaseous systems; use of functionalized graphene oxide as mechanical reinforcement of polymer matrixes.

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7498-452X

Armando Silvestre (PhD), Full Professor at the Department of Chemistry and at CICECO- Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro.

His research interests are focused on the Biorefinery concept development namely through the sustainable extraction and upgrading of added-value compounds from biomass, addressing mainly bioactive compounds through the use benign solvents (using ionic liquids, and deep eutecticamong others; new biobased polymers derived from 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid and new functional (nano)composite materials and biomaterials based on biopolymers and cellulose (nano)fibers.

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6320-4663.

Carmen Freire (PhD), Principal Researcher at CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials (University of Aveiro) and Department of Chemistry.

Her research interests are centered on the production and application of biogenic nanofibers (bacterial cellulose and protein fibrils), nanostructured biocomposites and hybrid materials; bio-based materials for biomedical applications (wound healing and drug delivery); biocomposites and  functional paper materials; chemical modification of (nano)cellulose fibers and other polysaccharides and their characterization and applications; and isolation, characterization and chemical transformations of bioactive components.

1;Preface;6 2;Acknowledgements;7 3;Contents;8 4;1 Introduction;10 4.1;1.1 Polysaccharides;10 4.2;1.2 Hybrid Materials;12 4.3;References;14 5;2 Polysaccharides-Based Hybrids with Metal Nanoparticles;18 5.1;2.1 Cellulose/mNPs Hybrid Materials;19 5.2;2.2 Chitin/mNPs Hybrid Materials;24 5.3;2.3 Chitosan/mNPs Hybrid Materials;25 5.4;2.4 Starch/mNPs Hybrid Materials;30 5.5;References;35 6;3 Polysaccharides-Based Hybrids with Metal Oxide Nanoparticles;40 6.1;3.1 Cellulose/Metal Oxide NPs Hybrid Materials;51 6.2;3.2 Chitin/Metal Oxide NPs Hybrid Materials;56 6.3;3.3 Chitosan/Metal Oxide NPs Hybrid Materials;57 6.4;3.4 Starch/Metal Oxide NPs Hybrid Materials;65 6.5;References;68 7;4 Polysaccharides-Based Hybrids with Graphene;78 7.1;4.1 Biomedical Applications;80 7.2;4.2 Water Remediation;84 7.3;4.3 Packaging Applications;89 7.4;4.4 Energy Applications;91 7.5;References;97 8;5 Polysaccharides-Based Hybrids with Carbon Nanotubes;103 8.1;5.1 Cellulose/CNTs Hybrid Materials;104 8.2;5.2 Chitin/CNTs Hybrid Materials;112 8.3;5.3 Chitosan/CNTs Hybrid Materials;113 8.4;5.4 Starch/CNTs Hybrid Materials;115 8.5;5.5 Other Polysaccharides/CNTs Hybrid Materials;117 8.6;References;119 9;6 Conclusions and Future Perspectives;123