Projects per year
Abstract
The renaissance of the bio-based chemical industry over the last 20years has seen an ever growing interest in the synthesis of new bio-based polymers. The building blocks of these new polymers, so called platform molecules, contain significantly more chemical functionality than their petrochemical counterparts (such as ethene, propene and para-xylene). As a result bio-based polymers often contain greater residual chemical functionality in their chains, with groups such as alkenes and hydroxyls commonly observed. These functional groups can act as sites for post-polymerization modification (PPM), thus further extending the range of applications for bio-based polymers by tailoring the polymers' final properties. This mini-review highlights some of the most recent and compelling examples of how to make use of bio-based polymers with residual functional groups for PPM. It also looks at how the emerging interdisciplinary field of enzymatic polymer synthesis allows for increased functionality in polymers by avoiding side-reactions as a result of milder reaction conditions, and additionally offers an alternative means of polymer surface modification.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 775-789 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Polymer international |
Issue number | 67 |
Early online date | 23 Feb 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 23 Feb 2018 |
Bibliographical note
© 2018 Society of Chemical Industry. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for detailsKeywords
- Bio-based monomers
- Bio-based polymers
- Enzymatic polymerization
- Post-polymerization functionalization
- Post-polymerization modification
- Unsaturated polyester
Projects
- 2 Finished
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Enzymic polymerisation, characterisation and market evaluation of a set of novel bioplastic co-polymers derived from renewable resources
Clark, J. H. (Principal investigator) & Farmer, T. J. (Co-investigator)
BBSRC (BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL)
1/07/16 → 30/06/19
Project: Research project (funded) › Research
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Sustainable Polymers
Clark, J. H. (Principal investigator), Farmer, T. J. (Co-investigator) & North, M. (Co-investigator)
1/03/14 → 28/05/19
Project: Research project (funded) › Research