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Review
. 2017 Oct 18;9(10):523.
doi: 10.3390/polym9100523.

The Recent Developments in Biobased Polymers toward General and Engineering Applications: Polymers that are Upgraded from Biodegradable Polymers, Analogous to Petroleum-Derived Polymers, and Newly Developed

Hajime Nakajima  1 , Peter Dijkstra  2 , Katja Loos  3
Affiliations
Review

The Recent Developments in Biobased Polymers toward General and Engineering Applications: Polymers that are Upgraded from Biodegradable Polymers, Analogous to Petroleum-Derived Polymers, and Newly Developed

Hajime Nakajima et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

The main motivation for development of biobased polymers was their biodegradability, which is becoming important due to strong public concern about waste. Reflecting recent changes in the polymer industry, the sustainability of biobased polymers allows them to be used for general and engineering applications. This expansion is driven by the remarkable progress in the processes for refining biomass feedstocks to produce biobased building blocks that allow biobased polymers to have more versatile and adaptable polymer chemical structures and to achieve target properties and functionalities. In this review, biobased polymers are categorized as those that are: (1) upgrades from biodegradable polylactides (PLA), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), and others; (2) analogous to petroleum-derived polymers such as bio-poly(ethylene terephthalate) (bio-PET); and (3) new biobased polymers such as poly(ethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PEF). The recent developments and progresses concerning biobased polymers are described, and important technical aspects of those polymers are introduced. Additionally, the recent scientific achievements regarding high-spec engineering-grade biobased polymers are presented.

Keywords: bio-poly(ethylene terephthalate) (bio-PET); biobased polyamides; biobased polymers; biodegradable polymers; modified lactide; poly(ethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PEF); poly(hydroxy alkanoates) (PHAs); polylactides (PLA); polyterpenes; succinate polymers.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chemical structures and conformation of PLA: (a) chemical structures and chirality; (b) conformation of PLLA (homo-chiral) [33]; and (c) conformation of sc-PLA from a combination of PLLA and PDLA [34].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Biological synthesis scheme of P3HB.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Chemical structures of PHAs.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Chemical structure of cellulose and starch.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Chemical structures of succinate polymers.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Proposed methods to achieve biobased TPA: (a) the iso-butanol method [67]; (b) the muconic acid method [68]; (c) the limonene method [69]; and (d) the furfural method [70,71,72,73].
Figure 7
Figure 7
Method of building block production and biobased polyamide polymerization: (a) biobased polyamides from sugar; (b) from castor oil [78].
Figure 8
Figure 8
Avantium’s PEF production process [87].
Figure 9
Figure 9
Synthetic scheme of cyclic oligomers for PEF and PBF [98,99].
Figure 10
Figure 10
(a) Phenyl-substituted PLA; and (b) high-Tg polymer produced from norbornene-substituted lactide.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Production of polyterpenes from β-pinene using: (a) cationic polymerization [105]; and (b) radical polymerization [108]; and (c) production from myrcene [115].
Figure 12
Figure 12
Chemical structures of: (a) poly(4-hydroxycinnamic acid); (b) poly((4,4′-diyl-α-truxillic acid dimethyl ester) 4,4′-diacetamido-α-truxillamide); (c) poly(α-glucan); and (d) poly(ether-ether ketone) consisting of FDCA derivatives.
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