IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v540y2016i7633d10.1038_nature21001.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable polymers from renewable resources

Author

Listed:
  • Yunqing Zhu

    (Chemistry Research Laboratory, University of Oxford)

  • Charles Romain

    (Imperial College London)

  • Charlotte K. Williams

    (Chemistry Research Laboratory, University of Oxford)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Yunqing Zhu & Charles Romain & Charlotte K. Williams, 2016. "Sustainable polymers from renewable resources," Nature, Nature, vol. 540(7633), pages 354-362, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:540:y:2016:i:7633:d:10.1038_nature21001
    DOI: 10.1038/nature21001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature21001
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/nature21001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Konrad, Kai A. & Lommerud, Kjell Erik, 2021. "Effective climate policy needs non-combustion uses for hydrocarbons," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    2. Mousavi-Avval, Seyed Hashem & Sahoo, Kamalakanta & Nepal, Prakash & Runge, Troy & Bergman, Richard, 2023. "Environmental impacts and techno-economic assessments of biobased products: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    3. Xun Zhang & Wenqi Guo & Chengjian Zhang & Xinghong Zhang, 2023. "A recyclable polyester library from reversible alternating copolymerization of aldehyde and cyclic anhydride," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    4. Tana Tana & Pengfei Han & Aidan J. Brock & Xin Mao & Sarina Sarina & Eric R. Waclawik & Aijun Du & Steven E. Bottle & Huai-Yong Zhu, 2023. "Photocatalytic conversion of sugars to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural using aluminium(III) and fulvic acid," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    5. Rizki Rinanda & Yunan Sun & Keke Chang & Rini Sulastri & Xiaoqiang Cui & Zhanjun Cheng & Beibei Yan & Guanyi Chen, 2023. "Plastic Waste Management: A Bibliometric Analysis (1992–2022)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-19, December.
    6. Dawei Wang & Chuanming Du & Dongdong Feng & Yuting Li & Yu Zhang & Yijun Zhao & Guangbo Zhao, 2019. "The Thermal Swelling Properties of Plant Chemical Alcohol Waste Liquid," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-11, November.
    7. Daniel H. Weinland & Kevin van der Maas & Yue Wang & Bruno Bottega Pergher & Robert-Jan van Putten & Bing Wang & Gert-Jan M. Gruter, 2022. "Overcoming the low reactivity of biobased, secondary diols in polyester synthesis," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    8. Xin Zhang & Yaohui Cheng & Jingxuan You & Jinming Zhang & Chunchun Yin & Jun Zhang, 2022. "Ultralong phosphorescence cellulose with excellent anti-bacterial, water-resistant and ease-to-process performance," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    9. Amy Fitzgerald & Will Proud & Ali Kandemir & Richard J. Murphy & David A. Jesson & Richard S. Trask & Ian Hamerton & Marco L. Longana, 2021. "A Life Cycle Engineering Perspective on Biocomposites as a Solution for a Sustainable Recovery," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-25, January.
    10. Badr Moutik & John Summerscales & Jasper Graham-Jones & Richard Pemberton, 2023. "Life Cycle Assessment Research Trends and Implications: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-45, September.
    11. Nicholas M. Holden & Andrew M. Neill & Jane C. Stout & Derek O’Brien & Michael A. Morris, 2023. "Biocircularity: a Framework to Define Sustainable, Circular Bioeconomy," Circular Economy and Sustainability,, Springer.
    12. Xiaoqian Wang & Yang Huang & Xiaoyu Xie & Yan Liu & Ziyu Huo & Maverick Lin & Hongliang Xin & Rong Tong, 2023. "Bayesian-optimization-assisted discovery of stereoselective aluminum complexes for ring-opening polymerization of racemic lactide," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    13. Aaldering, Lukas Jan & Leker, Jens & Song, Chie Hoon, 2019. "Uncovering the dynamics of market convergence through M&A," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 95-114.
    14. Hua Zhou & Yue Ren & Bingxin Yao & Zhenhua Li & Ming Xu & Lina Ma & Xianggui Kong & Lirong Zheng & Mingfei Shao & Haohong Duan, 2023. "Scalable electrosynthesis of commodity chemicals from biomass by suppressing non-Faradaic transformations," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    15. Erfan Oliaei & Peter Olsén & Tom Lindström & Lars A. Berglund, 2022. "Highly reinforced and degradable lignocellulose biocomposites by polymerization of new polyester oligomers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:540:y:2016:i:7633:d:10.1038_nature21001. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.