Roadmap to the sustainable synthesis of polymers: From the perspective of CO2 upcycling

Ionic Liquid-Functionalized Metal–Organic Frameworks/Covalent–Organic Frameworks for CO2 Capture and Conversion

“…Growing concern about the soaring increase of CO 2 emissions from anthropogenic activities and the greenhouse effect has been highlighted in view of the objective of sustainable development and carbon neutrality. It is verified by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that the CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere has surpassed 420 ppm, and the average CO 2 emission was approximately 35 Gt per year from 2010 to 2020, surpassing the acceptable capacity of the ecological cycle by far. − As a result, there might be a 1.9 °C increase in the mean global temperature by the year 2100 . More critically, the real situation would be even worse due to the continual heavy dependence upon fossil fuels in energy structure.…”

“…12,13 Moreover, the pore sizes and structures could be modified to enhance the selectivity due to the sieve effect. This modularity enables the tuning of pore shape and size, leading to unprecedented adsorption and separation performance for CO 2 .…”

Polyhydroxyurethanes from Biobased Monomers and CO2: A Bridge between Sustainable Chemistry and CO2 Utilization†

“…[ 4,7‐9 ] In the first case, CO 2 emissions are reduced by avoiding carbon‐intensive substrates and processes, for instance, by reducing the carbon footprint of established processes, [ 10 ] replacing oil‐based reagents with biobased compounds or by employing renewable sources of electricity to power energy‐intensive chemical processes. [ 11‐12 ] The second approach directly employs waste CO 2 as a reagent for the production of high value‐added products, [ 2,13 ] so that the CO 2 carbon is ultimately stored in the produced materials. [ 14‐16 ] Such an approach leads either to products of CO 2 reduction [ 17‐19 ] such as CO, [ 20‐21 ] formic acid, [ 22 ] methane and methanol, [ 23‐25 ] C 2 products, [ 11 ] and other organic compounds, [ 26‐29 ] or to compounds such as linear [ 30‐32 ] and cyclic carbonates [ 33‐36 ] or acrylates [ 37‐39 ] where the CO 2 carbon atom preserves its initial oxidation state (non‐reductive CO 2 conversion).…”

“…Indeed, using CO 2 as a C1 building block leads to a replacement of oil‐derived reagents, thus indirectly leading to emission avoidance. [ 12,52‐53 ] Additionally, CO 2 utilization for the synthesis of useful chemicals, that is often carried out through highly energy‐intensive processes, can be powered by renewable energy (power‐to‐X approach). [ 53‐54 ] From a qualitative viewpoint, it is clear that such approaches that simultaneously combine direct CO 2 utilization and CO 2 emissions avoidance are particularly attractive methodologies because they offer a two‐pronged strategy to evade the typical pitfalls of CO 2 utilization that occur when using high energy reagents, [ 49 ] thus lowering the carbon footprint of a specific product.…”

“…In this context, the production of plastics represents a constantly growing and GHG‐intensive (GHG: greenhouse gases) process [ 55 ] due to the predominant use of oil‐derived monomers and to the need for energy‐demanding, fossil fuel‐powered [ 56 ] chemical transformations such as hydrocarbons cracking that are required to generate such monomers. [ 12 ] Hence, there is an increasing interest towards more sustainable polymers with a strong emphasis being placed on monomers derived from biomass [ 55,57‐62 ] and, in particular, from waste biomass that does not compete with food production. [ 63‐65 ] Additionally, plastic products based on such biobased polymers should ideally be recyclable.…”