Xanthan gum-derived materials for applications in environment and eco-friendly materials: A review

Xanthan gum (XG), a naturally occurring microbial exopolysaccharide, is of a great commercial significance. It has demonstrated a significant potential in targeted applications such as advanced drug delivery, wastewater treatment, protein delivery, tissue engineering, and food packaging due to its outstanding physicochemical properties, biodegradability, and non-toxicity. However, certain limitations such as low surface area, poor mechanical performance, thermal stability, and bacterial growth can hinder its uses in specific applications. As a result, there have been various endeavors to modify xanthan gum by means of diverse modification approaches for enhancing its physicochemical properties, and therefore enabling its competence for the needs of drug delivery, tissue engineering, oil recovery, and environmental applications. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first review for providing a comprehensive picture of the advanced chemical treatment, grafting procedures, hydrogel synthesis, bio-nanocomposites containing metal, and metal oxide nanoparticles, graphene, and inorganic clays, along with the fabulous properties obtained for the xanthan derived materials. Furthermore, it exhibits the recent applications for these materials in industrial, biomedical engineering, wastewater treatment, and agricultural fields. In the future, the presented data will be considered a fabulous base for designing the next generation materials to be applied in further advanced uses.