Recent Advances in Sustainable Polymer Materials

Polymers are the world’s most versatile materials, and nearly everything ranging from high-tech

electronics to biomedicine to consumer packaging can be made from polymers. Most of these

polymers are derived from petrochemicals and show high persistence in the environment. Most

discarded polymers are difficult to recycle or degrade and they often end up in landfills and oceans,

resulting in the accumulation of millions of tons of plastic waste every year in the environment. To

address plastic pollution, sustainable polymer materials have attracted significant attention in the past

few decades. Scientific research has focused on replacing petrochemically derived resources with

renewable alternatives and on developing fully recyclable polymer materials. Biobased polymers can

be synthesized from various biomass such as fatty acids, plant oils, amino acids, lignin, and cellulose.

Recyclable polymers can be produced from the recovery of post-consumer plastics in circulation via

mechanical or chemical recycling processes. Applications of sustainable polymer materials include

agriculture, packaging, coatings, and drug delivery systems. Existing challenges include the

generation of cost-effective sustainable polymers with improved properties comparable with currently

available polymers.



This Research Topic aims to provide a wide collection of the current progress in scientific research on

sustainable polymers, (nano)composites, and their applications. The collection includes recent

advances in biobased polymers from various renewable resources and recyclable polymers via

mechanical/chemical recycling processes or dynamic chemical bonding. The collection includes

recent fundamental and applied studies on chemistry, physics, materials science, biology, engineering,

environmental assessment, economics, and policy. Both experimental and theoretical investigations

on the recent development of sustainable polymer materials are welcome. Especially, applications of

biobased polymers in medicine and pharmaceutics, and applications of recyclable polymers in food

packaging are encouraged.



This Research Topic focuses on recent advances in synthesis, structures, properties, processing, and

applications of sustainable polymer materials. We welcome Original Research, Review, Mini-Review

and Perspective articles. Areas to be covered in this Research Topic may include, but are not limited

to:



 Synthetic strategies of biobased polymers from renewable resources

 Recyclable thermoset materials with dynamic covalent bonds

 Chemical recycling to monomer

 Mechanical recycling of post-consumer plastics for recovery

 Decontamination and safety regulations of clean recycled polymers

 Functional materials and applications of biobased polymers and (nano)composites

 Structure-property correlations of sustainable polymers and (nano)composites

 Sustainable polymer materials in food packaging systems

 Sustainable polymer materials in medical and pharmaceutical applications