Biosynthesis of polyesters and their application on cellulosic fibers

This chapter intends to be an overview about the biosynthesis of polyesters and their applications with special focus on the coating of cellulose fibers. A review about the surface engineering underlying the cellulose fiber modification is the starting point of the chapter. Afterward, the different techniques for the biosynthesis of polyesters are highlighted, including the end-functionalized polymer synthesis with different functional initiators or terminators. The state-of-the-art about chemoenzymatic polymerization was reviewed focusing on the synthesis of polymers, which are generally described as hardly produced via conventional single methods. The final part of the chapter focuses on the techniques of cotton coating namely chemical grafting, physical coating, irradiation-induced grafting polymerization, enzymatic coating, among others. The significance and work perspectives are also discussed, as well as the major polyester biosynthesis applications.The authors would like to acknowledge the Chinese government scholarship under the State Scholarship Fund (No. 201706790049), the Training Fund for Excellent Doctoral Student in Jiangnan University, the Key Projects of governmental cooperation in international scientific and technological innovation (No. 2016 YFE0115700), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. JUSRP51622A). The authors acknowledge also the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. Carla Silva also acknowledges FCTdFundaç~ao para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (IF/00186/2015).