Search

Improving the sustainability of polymer networks is a crucial challenge in polymer science due to their important role in industry. Their traditional syntheses conflict with several principles of green chemistry as the employed monomers are petroleum‐based, their production involves the use of toxic reagents, and their permanently cross‐linked structures impede their chemical recycling and reshaping. The development of vitrimers represents a unique solution to address the issue of polymer network end‐of‐life by enabling reprocessability while maintaining good thermomechanical properties and solvent resistance. Although over the last decades biomass has proved to be an excellent feedstock for the production of permanently cross‐linked polymers, the field of biobased vitrimers is still in its infancy. In this review, a comprehensive overview of vitrimers synthesized from biobased monomers is presented. The emphasis is set on the compatibility of the biomass structure with the nature of the dynamic covalent chemistry, as well as the sustainability of the synthetic approaches. Implementing renewable feedstocks and recyclability in the production of polymer networks paves the way for the development of the next generation of sustainable materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyurethanes exhibit excellent coating properties for many applications. Facing the continuous growth of the polyurethane coating market, in the last few years many scientists have addressed the safety and sustainability of their production. This paper highlights the efforts that have been pursued in this direction from both the academic and industrial perspectives and covers aspects ranging from the substitution of petroleum‐based monomers by biobased equivalents to the development of novel synthetic pathways for the production of polyhydroxyurethanes. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry Towards greener polyurethane coatings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The good availability and high degree of functionalization possibilities of plant oils entitles them to be one of the most intensively studied renewable resources, especially in polymer science. However, in line with the principles of green chemistry, the use of renewable resources should be accompanied with catalytic procedures, comparably less or non-toxic chemicals, as well as reduction of waste and energy consumption to achieve an overall sustainable process. In this review, these aspects are addressed using the example of plant oil-based thermoset materials, which bear the advantage, in terms of sustainability, of not requiring a separation or purification step prior to polymerization. The direct homopolymerization of plant oils, as well as copolymerization, exclusively with other renewable resources, are highlighted. The sustainability of the synthesis of a broad range of thermosets including epoxy resins, polyurethane networks, polybenzoxazines and unsaturated polyesters is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors discuss the importance of renewability, one of the principles of Green chemistry, of used feedstocks within the idea of Green chemistry. Topics mentioned include the significance of several principles related to the sustainable production of needed products, the use of renewable resources in the manufacture of chemicals, and correlation between renewability and sustainability.

Review: [102 refs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]