CHAPTER 5: Plant-oil-based Polymeric Materials and their Applications

Plant oils are abundant renewable chemicals in the world. They can be used as the starting materials for making bio-based polymers and additives. These bio-based polymers and additives could be used in many applications such as plastics, fibers, elastomers, coatings and adhesives. In this chapter, we will review the recent research on bio-based materials made from soybean oil, castor oil and other types of oils including tung oil, linseed oil, canola oil and so on. Their applications in plastics, thermoplastic elastomers, coatings and adhesives will also be reviewed. This chapter indicates that plant-oil-based materials demonstrate many superior properties to their petroleum-based counterparts.