Progress in renewable polymers from natural terpenes, terpenoids, and rosin

Abstract

The development of sustainable renewable polymers from natural resources has increasingly gained attention from scientists, engineers as well as the general public and government agencies. This review covers recent progress in the field of renewable bio-based monomers and polymers from natural resources: terpenes, terpenoids, and rosin, which are a class of hydrocarbon-rich biomass with abundance and low cost, holding much potential for utilization as organic feedstocks for green plastics and composites. This review details polymerization and copolymerization of terpenes such as pinene, limonene, and myrcene and their derivatives, terpenoids including carvone and menthol, and rosin-derived monomers. The future direction on the utilization of these natural resources is discussed.