Among the many purported benefits of the use of bio-based starting materials for the formation of both thermosetting and thermoplastic polymers, the role of biomaterials in enhancing the diversity of readily available chemical structures for applications outside of medicine has received relatively little attention. This benefit, however, offers not just the prospect of replacing existing materials with new ones that perform equally well, but also the prospect of achieving significantly better performance than would otherwise be possible. To illustrate these concepts, we relate experiences from a recent (and continuing) multi-year effort to develop bio-based thermosetting polycyanurate networks. These efforts have demonstrated that bio-based thermosetting polymers enable the development of more capable and robust quantitative structure-property relationships, provide combinations of properties that were not previously realized, and even offer drastic improvements in performance to levels previously thought unreachable. These benefits accrue because the use of bio-based starting materials involves fewer restrictions on the range of readily available chemical structures that can be explored and developed.

Bio-based starting materials as an essential route to improved performance in macromolecules

254th National Meeting (2017)

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