The quest for high glass transition temperature bioplastics
The field of biorenewable polymers is ever-expanding, aided by the interest of the general public to adopt more sustainable practices for natural resource utilization as well as waste generation. This review summarizes recent efforts to synthesize biobased thermoplastics with glass transition temper...
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| Published in | Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability Vol. 6; no. 2; pp. 9298 - 9331 |
|---|---|
| Main Authors | , , , , |
| Format | Journal Article |
| Language | English |
| Published |
Cambridge
Royal Society of Chemistry
2018
|
| Subjects | |
| Online Access | Get full text |
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| Summary: | The field of biorenewable polymers is ever-expanding, aided by the interest of the general public to adopt more sustainable practices for natural resource utilization as well as waste generation. This review summarizes recent efforts to synthesize biobased thermoplastics with glass transition temperature (
T
g
) values exceeding that of polylactic acid (PLA), near 55 °C. A high
T
g
is essential for materials that aspire to replace any incumbent commodity plastics employed in the amorphous state. The first section focuses on commercial bioplastics and describes: approaches toward biorenewable polyethylene terephthalate (PET); efforts to improve the
T
g
of PLA; and advances toward polyethylene furanoate (PEF). The remaining sections catalogue a wide variety of novel, high
T
g
bioplastics categorized as: aromatic biopolymers, carbocyclic and heterocyclic biopolymers, and vinyl-type biopolymers synthesized
via
radical polymerization.
This review describes recent strategies for synthesizing polymers that are mostly or fully biobased and exhibit a high glass transition temperature. |
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| Bibliography: | In 1994 Stephen A. Miller received coterminal B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemistry from Stanford University, where Robert M. Waymouth served as his undergraduate and M.S. Thesis advisor. He then earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology in 1999 with John E. Bercaw before conducting postdoctoral research with Richard R. Schrock at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during 2000-2001. He held the position of Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M University from 2001 until 2007, when he accepted his current positions of Associate Professor of Chemistry and Member of the Butler Polymer Research Laboratory at the University of Florida. His primary research efforts target the synthesis of biorenewable and degradable polymers that mimic petroleum-based plastics. A particular emphasis is placed on amorphous, high glass transition temperature materials because of the historical challenge to generate these polymeric properties from biobased feedstocks. Amr Feteha was born in Cairo, the capital of Egypt. He received his Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Benha University, Egypt in 2000. Thereafter, he worked at Benha University as a teaching assistant for organic chemistry courses and received his Master's degree as well. He began his Ph.D studies in the Chemistry Department at the University of Florida in 2010. There, he investigated the synthesis of sustainable polymers utilizing RAFT/radical polymerization under the supervision of Professor Stephen A. Miller. Amr received his Ph.D. in May 2017. In 2016, Ha Nguyen completed her Ph.D. in the Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, under the supervision of Professor Stephen A. Miller. Previously, she received her Engineering Diploma in Organic Chemistry from Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Clermont-Ferrand (ENSCCF) and a double Master degree in Bioorganic and Environmental Chemistry from ENSCCF and Université Blaise Pascal. Her research interests include the synthesis and characterization of biorenewable polymers and polyolefins. Pengxu Qi graduated from Beijing Institute of Technology with a B.S. degree in 2011. He then joined the Ph.D program in the Chemistry Department of the University of Florida. In 2016, he received his Ph.D. degree under the supervision of Professor Stephen A. Miller, focusing on the design and synthesis of biorenewable and degradable polymers with properties comparable to those of incumbent packaging materials. Mayra Rostagno was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina where she spent her formative years, and received her B.Sc. in Chemistry from the Universidad de Buenos Aires. In 2012, she moved to Gainesville, Florida to pursue a Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry at the University of Florida under the supervision of Professor Stephen A. Miller. Her research focused on the synthesis of renewable polyacetals with the aim of mimicking commodity plastics. Mayra received her Ph.D. in May 2017. |
| ISSN: | 2050-7488 2050-7496 |
| DOI: | 10.1039/c8ta00377g |