IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i22p9911-d1520343.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainability of Nonisocyanate Polyurethanes (NIPUs)

Author

Listed:
  • Jan Ozimek

    (Department of Chemistry and Technology of Polymers, Cracow University of Technology, ul. Warszawska 24, 31-155 Krakow, Poland)

  • Krzysztof Pielichowski

    (Department of Chemistry and Technology of Polymers, Cracow University of Technology, ul. Warszawska 24, 31-155 Krakow, Poland)

Abstract

This work discusses the synthesis and properties of nonisocyanate polyurethanes (NIPUs) as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional polyurethanes. NIPUs are made without the use of toxic isocyanates, reducing the environmental impact and safety concerns associated with their production. However, their synthesis reactions often require longer time and more energy to be completed. The sustainability of NIPUs is considered from various angles; the main methods for the synthesis of NIPUs, including rearrangement reactions, transurethanization, and ring-opening polymerization of cyclic carbonates with amines, are examined. Another part focuses on renewable sources, such as vegetable oils, terpenes, tannins, lignins, sugars, and others. The synthesis of waterborne and solvent-free NIPUs is also discussed, as it further reduces the environmental impact by minimizing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and avoiding the use of harmful solvents. The challenges faced by NIPUs, such as lower molecular weight and higher dispersity compared to traditional polyurethanes, which can affect mechanical properties, were also addressed. Improving the performance of NIPUs to make them more competitive compared to conventional polyurethanes remains a key task in future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Ozimek & Krzysztof Pielichowski, 2024. "Sustainability of Nonisocyanate Polyurethanes (NIPUs)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-28, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:22:p:9911-:d:1520343
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/22/9911/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/22/9911/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:22:p:9911-:d:1520343. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.