Progress from composite materials to biocomposite materials and their applications

Biocomposite materials are made up of two or more constituent materials which have different physical or chemical properties out of which one is biogeneric in origin. There are two main categories of constituent materials: matrix and reinforcement. The matrix material surrounds & supports the reinforcement materials by maintaining their relative positions. In biocomposite materials, metals forms the matrix. The reinforcements materials could be metal oxides, cermicsor nanoparticles and they impart their special mechanical and physical properties to enhance the matrix properties. Biocomposite materials are one of the most important classes of the engineered materials and these materials have been successfully used for various applications in the field of environmental remediation and medical science which have been described in the present chapter.