Endowing phenolic formaldehyde resin with sustainability: why and how?

Abstract

The past century has witnessed the widespread application of phenolic formaldehyde (PF) resin, the first synthetic polymer material in the world, due to its excellent oil resistance and electrical insulation properties. The market demand for PF resin is expected to continue increasing year by year. To meet the requirements of Sustainable Development Goals, it is necessary to endow PF resin with sustainability. To date, efforts have been made to improve the synthesis process, search for alternative materials, and recycle phenolic resin into other functional materials. This has led to significant achievements in PF resin sustainability. In this review, we provide an in-depth analysis of sustainable strategies for PF resin, focusing on its market consumption, environmental impact, structure, and properties. In addition to recycling waste PF resin, achieving sustainability throughout the entire PF resin lifecycle has become an important focus. The improvement of synthesis technology has increased the lifespan of phenolic resin products and contributed to a reduction of waste PF resin. The addition of scavengers makes PF resin products safer in daily life. The use of more environmentally friendly raw materials, such as biomass, to replace phenol and formaldehyde has been implemented, thus improving the cost and environmental benefits. The application of dynamic covalent bonds makes waste PF resin decompose more easily. Combining these with the latest waste PF resin conversion methods, the sustainability of PF resin is expected to be raised to a higher level.