REVIEW 1700042 (1 of 22) © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim www.mme-journal.de Nanocomposites of Polymeric Biomaterials Containing Carbonate Groups: An Overview Iman Taraghi,* Sandra Paszkiewicz,* Janusz Grebowicz, Abdolhossein Fereidoon, and Zbigniew Roslaniec I. Taraghi, Prof. A. Fereidoon Department of Mechanical Engineering Semnan University Semnan 35131-19111, Iran E-mail: taraghi.iman@gmail.com I. Taraghi, Dr. S. Paszkiewicz, Prof. Z. Roslaniec West Pomeranian University of Technology Institute of Material Science and Engineering Piastow Av. 19, PL-70310 Szczecin, Poland E-mail: itaraghi@zut.edu.pl; spaszkiewicz@zut.edu.pl Prof. J. Grebowicz Department of Natural Sciences University of Houston-Downtown One Main Street, S-812, Houston, TX 77002-1000, USA DOI: 10.1002/mame.201700042 shown to impart further strength: thermal stability while maintaining excellent bio- degradability and biocompatibility are desired. The APC-based NCs have been manufactured by incorporation of the nanoadditives to the APCs during their synthesis process. Hence, a wide range of nanoadditives with different types and dif- ferent properties as reinforcement fillers can be incorporated within the APCs to improve the overall characteristics of these polymer matrices. For instance, Špírková et al. [8–14] synthesized the APC-based poly- urethane (PC-PU), as well as its NCs filled with different kinds of nanoparticles (NPs) such as organic-modified clay and zinc oxide (ZnO) NPs. They found that these NCs exhibit excellent mechanical prop- erties. [8] Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) have become interesting for a wide variety of potential uses as nanofillers in NCs due to its unique advantages such as low price, availability, lightweight, and spe- cific morphology. [15] In order to investigate the effect of CNCs on the APC biomate- rials, Hu et al. [16] combined the CNCs with poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) biodegradable polymer. The obtained PPC/CNCs APC bio-NCs showed an improve- ment in mechanical properties with an incorporation of small amount of CNCs. However, a poor thermal stability for PPC was achieved after applying CNCs due to the thermosensitive sulfate groups located on the surface of CNCs. [17] The signifi- cant efficiency of microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) on the shape memory effect and self-healing of PPC has been detected by Qi et al. [18] The shape memory behavior of MFC fibers created a recovery effect in scratch resistance and self-healing response of PPC/MFC composites. [19] APCs/nHA NCs were produced as scaffolds with smooth surface for artificial bone applica- tions. The results showed that the surface roughness could be affected by optimizing the amount of NPs and adjusting the processing factors. [20] APCs can also be used for the preparation of modern nano- structures like polymeric micelles that carry drugs through the bloodstream and deliver them to the desired locations in order to act within tumors. [21–25] In this case, the APCs can play the role of hydrophobic (HPO) core-forming blocks for drug delivery of micellar nanocarriers. [26–30] In drug delivery systems, in order to control the in vivo drug release rate with a prolonged Biomaterials The modification of biomaterials using nanoadditives can lead to the develop- ment of novel materials for a wide variety of biomedical applications such as drug administration systems, tissue engineering, bioresistance coatings, and biomedical instruments. Moreover, a further improvement of mechanical and thermal properties of aforementioned biomaterials while maintaining their dimensional stability is a goal of major scientific researches. Aliphatic poly- carbonates (APCs) containing carbonate groups such as poly(trimethylene carbonate), poly(propylene carbonate), poly(ethylene carbonate), poly(dimethyl trimethylene carbonate), etc., have become much more interesting compared to other biodegradable materials due to their unique physical and chemical properties. This review presents the effect of applying different kinds of nanoparticles (NPs) on the mechanical, thermal, and viscoelastic properties as well as dimensional stability and biocompatibility of APCs. The dispersion process of nanofillers within polymer matrices has been divided into two groups, solution and melt mixing techniques. More- over, synthesis procedures of APC loaded NPs for drug delivery systems and electrospinning of nanofiber mats have also been reviewed. In order to clarify the effect of NPs on the overall characteristics of the APC biomaterials, the detailed mechanism of improving process have been extensively discussed. 1. Introduction Polymeric biomaterials containing carbonate groups like ali- phatic polycarbonates (APCs) have been widely used for drug delivery, theranostics, and tissue or bone engineering due to their biocompatibility, enzymatic degradability, and low tox- icity. [1–7] The APC-based bio-nanocomposites (NCs) have been Macromol. Mater. Eng. 2017, 1700042