Mechanical Properties of Biopolymers

There are close similarities between biopolymers and native tissues. The properties of these materials make them suitable for application in regenerative medicine. This chapter includes current research works and reports on the influence of water vapor annealing process, cellulose nanomaterials, pectin materials, cross-linking effects, and others on the mechanical properties of silk fibroin, collagen, chitosan, gelatin, and alginate biopolymers. While several arguments have been included, the use of these cellulose- and pectin-based materials is undisputed. Recent experiments on mechanical characterization techniques including resilience, hardness, fatigue, torsion, bending, traction, and compression have been highlighted.