Biopolymers and Bioplastics

Routes to drop-in monomers and bioplastics

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An emerging trend is the development of monomers from renewable carbon that are identical to those that currently produced from petroleum-derived feedstocks. Examples include diols (e.g. 1,3-propenediol, 1,4-butanediol), diacids (e.g. succinic and adipic acids), terephthalic acid and acrylic acid. The attraction to this approach is that ‘drop in’ biobased products have established markets such that, if they can be produced at equivalent cost and quality, they will be adopted by producers. Drop in biobased monomers enable the production of biobased drop-in polymers such as poly(butylene succinate) (PBS), poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and biobased polyamides.