**Conflict of interest**

*Alginates - Recent Uses of This Natural Polymer*

the surface.

**6. Conclusion**

metals.

If papers or boards need to be waxed, alginate in the size maintains the wax at

Alginates provide a better coating runnability than other similar compounds/

They are also exceptional film formers and enhance the ink printability and resistance. In the size, the normal mixture of alginate is 5–10% of the total weight of starch. Alginate is used in the starch adhesives to form corrugated boards, because it stabilizes

The applications of alginates in new areas has proven the multi-role capacity of alginates, such as supportive agent for silicon nanopowder to yield a stable battery anode that possesses reversible capacity eight times higher than that of the stateof-the-art graphitic anodes. Improved performance characteristics prevent the dramatic volume changes during electrochemical alloying and de-alloying with Li,

In the specialized clothing industry, the alginate anti-fire capacity was proven to be effective. The new alginate-based materials are showing enormous potential to

Humans use seaweed since the inception of civilization due to its medicinal properties and other properties, such as manure for the infertile soils. There is also a long history of alginate usage in foods as additives and as emulsifying, gelling, and stabilizing agents. And those characteristics open new areas and industries where

In bioremediation, the alginate can act as heavy metal chelating agent and sup-

This function can also serve as medical support to patients poisoned with heavy

Although it was discovered in 1881, one of the main characteristics of alginate was used for a long time without notice: this was as soil conditioner by Europeans

Alginate is one of the easiest and low-cost natural polymers, and because of these particularities, alginate is the most researched polymer among all seaweed polysaccharides. Alginate advantages are now being explored for innovations on

On the biomedical area, the alginate-based compounds/products will be on the front line of the new emergent methods and techniques evolving the human and animal health in various medical areas. This is happening now with wound dress-

the viscosity of the adhesive and allows control of its rate of penetration [20].

be applied in building insulation materials and textile industry [66–68]

products, specifically in hot, on-machine coating applications.

which typically leads to rapid anode degradation [65].

alginate can be harnessed and used with success.

and other people since the Bronze Age.

port new technology to rehabilitate the degraded ecosystems.

other areas, and that is improving the knowledge about alginates.

ings and the addition of regeneration factors in the alginate-based ones.

It is believed that with the new demand of natural polymers to substitute synthetic polymers, the alginate from various forms will be harnessed and will gain new types of applications in the industries that work with polymers. That demand is now sorting effects with the increment of investigation and development of new techniques and methods to work with alginate and its subforms, such as alginate-

This work had the support of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), through the strategic project UID/MAR/04292/2019 granted to MARE. This work

**12**

nanoclay complexes.

**Acknowledgements**

The authors declare no conflict of interest.
