Screening synthesis pathways for biomass-derived sustainable polymer production

Sustainable polymers derived from biomass have been extensively investigated to replace petroleum-based polymers and fulfill the ever-increasing market demand. Because of the diversity of biomass and polymer categories, there exists a large number of synthesis routes from biomass to polymers. However, their productive and economic potentials have never been evaluated. Therefore, in this study, a comprehensive reaction network covering the synthesis of 20 polymers, including both newly proposed biopolymers and traditional polymers, is constructed to resolve this challenge for the first time. Through the network, over 100 synthesis pathways are screened to identify the most promising biopolymers. Three original contributions are concluded. First, from a carbon point of view, polyethylene and 1,4-cyclohexadiene-based polymers are found to be the best petroleum-based polymer and newly proposed biopolymers that can be produced from biomass, respectively, because of their highest carbon recovery efficiency of ∼70%. Second, an external hydrogen supply is vital to guarantee the high yield of biopolymer, because, without enough hydrogen, biopolymer productivity can be reduced by half. Third, through sensitivity analysis, the current biopolymer ranking is verified to be stable, subject to a moderate change of reaction selectivities and hydrogen supply. Therefore, this study provides a clear direction for future biopolymer research