Chemistry, Structural Design, Properties and Future Perspectives of High-Performance Polymers from Renewable Biomass

High-performance polymers refer to a class of advanced polymer materials that are rich in rigid aromatic rings, heterocycles, or cross-linked networks in their molecular structure, have been attracting increased attention from both industrial and academic fields because of their excellent comprehensive properties. However, most commercialized polymers are constrained by increasingly depleted oil resources and environmental pollution, thus the development of high-performance polymers from natural renewable resources has become a hot research topic in the polymer area. This review focuses on the recent efforts relating to replacing fossil-based feedstocks using biomass for achieving high-performance polymers. Herein the latest advances including principle chemistry, structural design, and properties of bio-based high-performance polymers as well as their corresponding composites are extensively reviewed and discussed. Specifically, the natural renewable resources of raw materials, synthetic pathways, and structural characteristics of bio-based platform compounds for developing high-performance polymers are presented. In addition, the structure-property relationship and functionalization approaches of advanced bio-based thermoplastic and thermoset polymers have also been reviewed. The review concludes with our thoughts about the future outlook for bio-based high-performance polymers.