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Review on Greener Chemistry in Polymer Science
Summary
This review paper summarizes existing research on how the plastics industry can swap out toxic chemicals—like BPA and other harmful compounds found in everyday plastics—for safer, eco-friendly alternatives, while also tackling the growing problem of plastic and microplastic pollution. This matters because many chemicals used to make common plastics have been linked to health concerns, so finding safer substitutes could mean less exposure to harmful substances in the products we use daily and less plastic waste breaking down into microplastics in our food, water, and bodies. The paper also points out that "green" plastic-making methods still have real limitations that scientists need
Abstract: Climate change is one of the urgent global problems caused by human activities. The factors that significantly harm the environment are a substantial increase in carbon dioxide emissions, the rapid depletion of fossil fuels, and the loss of forest cover, as well as the generation and accumulation of toxic and non-degradable waste in the biosphere. To protect Mother Earth, twelve principles of Green Chemistry were developed by Anastas and Warner to mitigate the usage of hazardous chemicals, develop alternatives for traditional energy intensive processes, reduce fossil fuel dependent materials and greenhouse gas emissions, effective use of atoms and catalysts in the chemical reaction and expand the utilization of biomass and carbon dioxide as a feedstock and minimize the formation of bye products and waste generation and their prevention. All branches of Science are focusing their research towards Green Chemistry Principles. This review aims to look at Polymer Science from the angle of Green Chemistry Principles. Various polymerization techniques and their correlation to Green Chemistry Principles, replacement of toxic solvents with green solvents, alternatives to toxic chemicals which are widely used in Polymer Science, such as bisphenol A, phosgene, epichlorohydrin, pyridine, halogenated compounds, phthalate plasticizers, isocyanates, and lead compounds are discussed. Commodity polymers from biomass, carbon dioxide-based polymers, biodegradable polymers, water-borne coatings, and the prevention and collection of macroplastic and microplastic waste are also covered in detail. Current limitations of green chemistry practices in Polymer Science are highlighted, which need to be addressed at the earliest.