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Updated: May 1, 2026

Designed for Molecular Recycling: A Lignin-Derived Semi-aromatic Biobased Polymer
Published on: November 30, 2020
Polymerization of nonfood biomass-derived monomers to sustainable polymers
Yuetao Zhang1, Eugene Y-X Chen
1State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Street, Changchun, Jilin, 130012, People's Republic of China, ytzhang2009@jlu.edu.cn.
Abstract:
The development of sustainable routes to fine chemicals, liquid fuels, and polymeric materials from natural resources has attracted significant attention from academia, industry, the general public, and governments owing to dwindling fossil resources, surging energy demand, global warming concerns, and other environmental problems. Cellulosic material, such as grasses, trees, corn stover, or wheat straw, is the most abundant nonfood renewable biomass resources on earth. Such annually renewable material can potentially meet our future needs with a low carbon footprint if it can be efficiently converted into fuels, value added chemicals, or polymeric materials. This chapter focuses on various renewable monomers derived directly from cellulose or cellulose platforms and corresponding sustainable polymers or copolymers produced therefrom. Recent advances related to the polymerization processes and the properties of novel biomass-derived polymers are also reviewed and discussed.
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