Biodegradable Polymers: Prospects, Problems, and Progress

Novel thermosets prepared by cationic copolymerization of various vegetable oils—synthesis and their structure–property relationships

“…Until now, variations in the polymer properties have been the direct result of variations in the polymer composition resulting from changes in the comonomer (ST and DVB) content. Herein, we wish (1) to determine if cationic polymerization, which has been so effective for soybean, corn, tung, and fish oils, can be extended to the polymerization of other readily available vegetable oils, (2) to convert a number of vegetable oils to bulk polymers by varying only the type of the oil while keeping the composition constant, (3) to characterize the materials, and most importantly, (4) to determine their structure-property relationships. This kind of structure-property elucidation is necessary for tailoring the properties of these promising new bioplastics.…”

“…One major initiative has been the synthesis of a wide range of biopolymers from annually renewable and environmentally benign starting materials obtained from agricultural, animal and microbial sources [1][2][3]. These materials often possess thermal and mechanical properties comparable to or better than those of widely used industrial polymers.…”

Characterization of poly(vinyl alcohol) grafted with acrylic acid and methylmethacrylate using a Ce(IV) glucose redox system

“…1,2 Biodegradable polymers and their applications have been reviewed by Sudesh Kumar. 3 One of the most important universal requirements of a biomedical polymer is its biocompatibility. Bachtsi et al 4 examined the use of crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as a control delivery device for enzymes.…”

New soybean oil-styrene-divinylbenzene thermosetting copolymers. III. Tensile stress-strain behavior

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] Soybean oil is a biodegradable triglyceride oil with a high degree of unsaturation. Its polyunsaturation is not only beneficial for human health, but it also makes it possible to polymerize the oil into useful solid materials.…”