Bio-Based Polyurethanes for Sustainable and Multifunctional Applications

Bio-based polyurethanes, derived from renewable feedstocks such as vegetable oils, lignin, and polysaccharides, have attracted increasing attention as sustainable alternatives to fossil-derived polyurethanes and as versatile materials for smart coatings, flexible electronics, biomedical engineering, and energy devices. Through structural engineering strategies combining dynamic covalent network design with nanocomposite reinforcement, these materials achieve mechanical tunability, reprocessability, and multifunctionality. This review summarizes recent progress in bio-based polyurethane chemistry, encompassing bio-polyols, internal emulsifiers, isocyanates, and non-isocyanate synthetic routes, and discusses structural engineering strategies based on chain-segment design, aggregation-state control, dynamic covalent bond chemistry, and nanocomposite reinforcement. These strategies overcome the inherent limitations of thermosets, enabling high strength, self-healing, and recyclability, thereby supporting applications in protective coatings, fire-warning systems, tissue repair, antibacterial dressings, flexible sensors, and energy storage devices. This review examines remaining challenges and future opportunities, including sustainability assessment, scalable processing, end-of-life management, and data-driven material design, toward the development of sustainable, reliable, and closed-loop bio-based polyurethane systems.