title: Cellulose-based sustainable polymers: state of the art and future trends.
abstract: Nowadays, nearly all polymeric materials are produced from crude oil-derived monomers. With the steadily increasing demand for oil-based products and their decreasing availability in the near future, one of the main challenges of mankind is the replacement of crude oil as raw material by renewable resources such as biomass. So far, only a few polymers are available derived directly from cellulose as a main component of biomass by regeneration. On the other hand, a significant potential lies in the production of polymers from cellulose-derived monomers. A huge variety of different monomers is already available by convenient catalytic processes. This feature article focuses on the current status of mono- and resulting polymers derived either directly from cellulose processing and regeneration or by catalytic conversion to a number of monomers for the production of novel polymers and co-polymers.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, Worringerweg 1, D-52074 Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Palkovits
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D002384:Catalysis; D002476:Cellophane / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D002482:Cellulose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D005947:Glucose / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D055772:Green Chemistry Technology / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D006868:Hydrolysis; D011095:Polyethylenes / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D011143:Polyvinyl Chloride / Q000138:chemical synthesis
chemical_list: D011095:Polyethylenes; D000431:Ethanol; D011143:Polyvinyl Chloride; D002482:Cellulose; D002476:Cellophane; C009865:cuprammonium cellulose; C012024:rayon, purified; D005947:Glucose