How far is Lignin from being a biomedical material?

Sigit Sugiarto; Yihao Leow; Chong Li Tan; Guan Wang; Dan Kai

doi:10.1016/j.bioactmat.2021.06.023

How far is Lignin from being a biomedical material?

Bioact Mater. 2021 Jun 26:8:71-94. doi: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2021.06.023. eCollection 2022 Feb.

Authors

Sigit Sugiarto¹, Yihao Leow¹, Chong Li Tan^{1

2}, Guan Wang¹, Dan Kai¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), ASTAR, 2 Fusionopolis Way, Innovis, #08-03, Singapore 138634 Singapore.
² Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore 117583, Singapore.

Abstract

Lignin is a versatile biomass that possesses many different desirable properties such as antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-UV, and good biocompatibility. Natural lignin can be processed through several chemical processes. The processed lignin can be modified into functionalized lignin through chemical modifications to develop and enhance biomaterials. Thus, lignin is one of the prime candidate for various biomaterial applications such as drug and gene delivery, biosensors, bioimaging, 3D printing, tissue engineering, and dietary supplement additive. This review presents the potential of developing and utilizing lignin in the outlook of new and sustainable biomaterials. Thereafter, we also discuss on the challenges and outlook of utilizing lignin as a biomaterial.

Keywords: 3D printing; Antioxidants; Biomass; Biomedical applications; Tissue engineering.

Publication types

Review