Advances in plant oil-based polymeric materials with dynamic covalent bonds

Abstract

With the current unstable supply of petroleum resources, the environmental pollution problems, as well as the increasing demand for sustainable development, plant oils, which are natural, renewable resources, have been regarded as potential alternative resources to petrochemical-based materials for fabricating polymers due to their advantages, such as renewability and wide availability. However, traditional plant oil-based polymer materials have limitations in terms of recyclability and reprocessability. In recent years, dynamic covalent bond polymers have undergone rapid development and hold significant promise for addressing the inherent trade-off between performance and sustainability in traditional polymeric materials, thereby offering innovative solutions for sustainable development. Herein, we have summarized the fundamental characteristics of plant oil resources, along with the evolution and characteristics of dynamic covalent bonds. The two primary exchange mechanisms of covalent adaptable networks (CANs) and recent advances in plant oil-based dynamic covalent polymer materials are also reviewed. Additionally, we discuss the utilization of various dynamic covalent bonds in polymer material design while providing perspectives on future developments in this field.