ABSTRACT
Composites based on non-biodegradable synthetic materials lead to environmental crisis. Biodegradable composites are eco-friendly alternative materials that replace non-biodegradable composites. They are broken down in the environment, which avoids the toxic residues. Biodegradable composites consist of biocompatible or water-soluble polymer materials as matrices and natural materials as fillers. Efforts are taken to obtain matrices and fillers from renewable and biodegradable materials. Biodegradable polymers are degraded by bacterial decomposition process easily. They can be made a conductive material using fillers such as carbon nanomaterials and various nanoparticles. Electrical percolation is achieved by varying the concentration of fillers. Also, biodegradable conductive blends are prepared using conducting polymers with natural polymers. These biodegradable composites are utilized in low-cost sensor making with simple preparation techniques. Sensors with such composites (having highly sensitive nanomaterials as fillers) exhibit excellent sensitivity and selectivity. These sensors can be degraded naturally after use, which reduces the electronic waste. Due to electrical conductivity and biocompatibility, biodegradable conducting polymers are emerging as new biomaterials.
