The design and engineering of innovative bionanocomposites for a wide
variety of applications should be based on the understanding of the relationship
between their nanoscale structure and their chemical and mechanical properties. The
understanding of the chemistry and structure at the nanometric level imply an essential
knowledge for future developments of novel materials based on polysaccharides and
nanostructured materials toward several applications (for instance bioremediation,
medical applications, biotechnology, food industry, etc.). The study of the physicochemical
characteristics of a material would imply not only its basic description but
could be significantly relevant in the optimization of its synthesis toward the obtaining
of tailored properties or the control of the material behavior in a particular application.
Herein, we present the introduction to the most used techniques in the characterization
of bionanocomposites, such as electron microscopies, FTIR, Raman spectroscopy,
NMR, Rheology behavior, DSC, TGA, SAXS and SANS. The basics of these
techniques and key approaches in the characterization of bionanocomposites are
presented for the understanding of the relevance of the characterization step in a
material evaluation.
Keywords: Biocomposite, DSC, FTIR, Nanostructure, NMR, Polysaccharide,
Raman, Rheology, SAXS, TGA.
