ABSTRACT
The —eld of materials science and technology is currently undergoing revolutionary advances due to a recent trend in which various materials are coupled with different disciplines: for example, biomolecules with electronics (Willner and Katz 2005; Hoffmann 2002), nanomaterials with medical science (Wang, Katz, and Willner 2005; Alcamo 1996), atom-scale materials with the development of novel advanced analytical tools (Fukui and Tatsuo 2008; Salmeron et al. 1990; Knapp et al. 1995; Samorì 2008), new functional materials with multidisciplinary optical science and engineering (Wise et al. 1998), etc. Additionally, theoretical predictions rendered with increasingly improved models and computational capabilities (Grant and Richards 1995; Leach 2001) are also making impressive contributions to the progress of materials science and technology. The eagerness of scientists to embrace multidisciplinary approaches is another important driving force in the recent rapid changes in materials science. On the other hand, it has to be pointed out that since human beings came into being on this planet, their lives have been largely dependent on the use of naturally occurring polymers, namely, biopolymers. Proteins, polynucleotides, and polysaccharides are three major examples of biopolymers. All three of these biopolymer groups reveal very speci—c physiological activities. Additionally, their versatile applications as materials have already been, or are currently being, developed. The chemical structures and uses of these polymers are summarized in Table 1.1.
