title: Sustainable polymers from renewable resources.
abstract: Renewable resources are used increasingly in the production of polymers. In particular, monomers such as carbon dioxide, terpenes, vegetable oils and carbohydrates can be used as feedstocks for the manufacture of a variety of sustainable materials and products, including elastomers, plastics, hydrogels, flexible electronics, resins, engineering polymers and composites. Efficient catalysis is required to produce monomers, to facilitate selective polymerizations and to enable recycling or upcycling of waste materials. There are opportunities to use such sustainable polymers in both high-value areas and in basic applications such as packaging. Life-cycle assessment can be used to quantify the environmental benefits of sustainable polymers.
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3TA, UK.
authors.forename: Yunqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Romain
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3TA, UK.
authors.forename: Charlotte K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000737:chemistry; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004548:Elasticity; D004581:Electronics / Q000295:instrumentation; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000737:chemistry; D010944:Plants / Q000737:chemistry; D010969:Plastics / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D013729:Terpenes / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D002241:Carbohydrates; D020100:Hydrogels; D010938:Plant Oils; D010969:Plastics; D011108:Polymers; D013729:Terpenes; D002245:Carbon Dioxide