Fully Biobased Vitrimers: Future Direction toward Sustainable Cross-Linked Polymers

Improving the sustainability of polymer networks is a crucial challenge in polymer science due to their important role in industry. Their traditional syntheses conflict with several principles of green chemistry as the employed monomers are petroleum-based, their production involves the use of toxic reagents, and their permanently cross-linked structures impede their chemical recycling and reshaping. The development of vitrimers represents a unique solution to address the issue of polymer network end-of-life by enabling reprocessability while maintaining good thermomechanical properties and solvent resistance. Although over the last decades biomass has proved to be an excellent feedstock for the production of permanently cross-linked polymers, the field of biobased vitrimers is still in its infancy. In this review, a comprehensive overview of vitrimers synthesized from biobased monomers is presented. The emphasis is set on the compatibility of the biomass structure with the nature of the dynamic covalent chemistry, as well as the sustainability of the synthetic approaches. Implementing renewable feedstocks and recyclability in the production of polymer networks paves the way for the development of the next generation of sustainable materials.

Automated summary

Applying sustainability to the development of polymer networks is crucial for addressing challenges in polymer science. The development of vitrimers enables reprocessability while maintaining excellent thermomechanical properties and solvent resistance. Biomass as a renewable feedstock has great potential for the production of polymer networks.