Copolymerization of vegetable oils and bio-based monomers with elemental sulfur: A new promising route for bio-based polymers

The interest in the development of bio-based polymers is growing fast as a result of environmental concerns on common petroleum-based polymers and finite oil resources. Renewable bio-derived monomers and vegetable oils have shown a potential use as a feedstock for the development of bio-based polymers. Copolymerization of these renewable monomers with elemental sulfur provides a new promising route for the development of a variety of sulfur-containing bio-based polymers meeting the goal of green chemistry and enabling the utilization of the vast amounts of by-product sulfur in oil and gas refineries. This article briefly reviews the development of different classes of bio-based polymers containing sulfur by inverse vulcanization of sulfur with a variety of vegetable oils and renewable monomers. A number of interesting applications of such new class of bio-based polymers and their perspective are also discussed.