Estamos en la era biodegradable, en los últimos años la conciencia por el cuidado y sostenibilidad ambiental ha estado en constante crecimiento. Este crecimiento ha sido proporcional con el interés de los consumidores por disminuir y reemplazar los productos plásticos derivados del polímero, con productos biodegradables y compostables que, a pesar tener precios más elevados, son atractivos para los consumidores debido a la satisfacción personal y ambiental que conlleva su compra. Este cambio en el estilo de vida del consumidor peruano se ha reflejado en el interés del Gobierno por regular el consumo de productos de plástico de un solo uso y no compostables en los negocios locales. Por lo que, se aprobó la ley N° 30884 que según el diario “El Peruano” tiene “La finalidad de la ley es contribuir en la concreción del derecho que tiene toda persona a gozar de un ambiente equilibrado y adecuado al desarrollo de su vida, reduciendo para ello el impacto adverso del plástico de un solo uso, de la basura marina plástica, fluvial y lacustre y de otros contaminantes similares, en la salud humana y del ambiente”. El objetivo de The Green Alternative es brindar a este segmento de mercado una solución completa y accesible para reemplazar los productos de plástico, así como crear consciencia a los interesados por cuidar el medio ambiente e incrementar nuestra participación en el mercado. / We are in the biodegradable age, in recent years awareness of environmental care and sustainability has been constantly growing. This growth has been proportional to consumers' interest in diminishing and replacing polymer-derived plastic products, biodegradable and compostable products that, despite having higher prices, are attractive to consumers because of the personal and environmental satisfaction that comes with their purchase. This change in the lifestyle of the Peruvian consumer has been reflected in the government's interest by regulating the consumption of single-use, non-compostable plastic products in local businesses. Therefore, Law No. 30884 was passed, which according to the newspaper "El Peruano" has "The purpose of the law is to contribute to the realization of the right that every person has to enjoy a balanced environment reducing the adverse impact of single-use plastic, plastic, river and lake litter and other similar pollutants, in human health and the environment." The green alternative aims to provide this market segment with a complete and accessible solution to replace plastic products, as well as raising awareness for those interested in taking care of the environment and increasing our market share. / Trabajo de investigación

The search for alternatives to the fossil-based products has dramatically surged during past few decades primarily due to the problems associated with the scarcity of these sources and global environmental concerns. Among those many alternatives, exploitation of cellulose, as a raw material to develop novel products has been a constant attempt since it has never lost its both economic and industrial impact. Cellulose is known for its significant contribution as a raw material and as a fascinating sustainable macromolecule, which exhibits wide availability and versatile chemical reactivity to discover novel derivatives for broad range of applications. Conversion of cellulose C2/C3 secondary hydroxyl groups to dialdehyde groups in the presence of periodate is an extremely useful method for regioselective oxidation of cellulose and to activate the polymer for further derivatization. This thesis is primarily focused on synthesis and characterization of wide range of cellulose derivatives exploiting facile periodate oxidation methodology. The first study investigated the use of periodate oxidation as a potential method to synthesize a novel water soluble derivative of cellulose from bleached hardwood Kraft pulp. The work focused on the effect of periodate oxidation and sulfonation reaction on water solubility, morphology and structure of cellulose fibers. The results showed a significant increase in water solubility (2.85 -28.5 g/L) and complete change in surface morphology of the fibers due to the introduction of sulfonic acid groups. In the second study, the same reaction scheme was employed on bead cellulose to prepare anionic 2,3-disulfonated beads. Due to the presence of negatively charged sulfonic acid groups, the beads were found to be agglomerated in presence of cationic starch, exhibiting their future application in chromatographic separation. In the third study, model primary amine compounds such as methyl and butyl amines were grafted to nanowhisker surfaces following periodate oxidation and reductive amination. Then, based on the grafting procedure, in the following study, gamma aminobutyric acid (spacer) and syringyl alcohol (linker) was attached to periodate oxidized nanowhiskers to synthesize a novel drug delivery system. The final study investigated the application of periodate oxidized nanowhiskers as chemical cross-linkers to stabilize gelatin gels. It was concluded that the chemical cross-linking has a significant effect on relative increase in percentage of rigid protons, reduced water uptake ability and reduced pore size of the gels. Not only did the chemical cross-linking improve the storage modulus of the gels (150%) and but it also increased the thermal resistance until 50 oC.