Structural properties of protein and their role in polymer nanocomposites

The growing concern over the environment raises the question of
biodegradability and renewability in numerous fields, including materials and
energy. Therefore, industries and researchers focus more on the development of biomaterials generated from natural sources. In this context, proteins and their unique properties made them ideal candidates to be used in different novel applications and are not limited to films, hydrogels, biological tissue engineering, and polymer composites. In this chapter, authors highlight the different sources of protein and their structural properties. Then, the extraction methods are discussed in detail. Further, the different processing methods to prepare the protein-based composites were explained. In overall, this chapter aims to highlight the recent developments of protein-based materials in different fields, based on the literature.