Endow Phenolic Formaldehyde Resin with Sustainability, Why and How?

Abstract

The past century has witnessed the wide application of phenolic formaldehyde (PF) resin, the first synthetic polymer material in the world, dur to its excellent oil resistance, and electrical insulation properties. The market demand of PF resin is expected to further increase year by year. In order to meet the requirement 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 market consumption, environmental impact, structure, and properties. Besides discussing the recycling of waste PF resin, how to achieve sustainability in every part of the PF resin life cycle becomes a further topic. the improvement of synthesis technology has increased the life of phenolic resin products and contributed to the reduction of waste PF resin. The addition of scavenger makes PF resin products safer in daily life. The use of more environmentally friendly raw materials such as biomass to replace phenol and formaldehyde, thus improving the cost and environmental benefits. The application of dynamic covalent bond makes the waste PF resin more easily decomposed. Combined with the latest waste PF resin conversion method, the sustainability of PF resin is expected to be raised to a higher level.