A Biodegradable, Waterproof, and Thermally Processable Cellulosic Bioplastic Enabled by Dynamic Covalent Modification.

Zhou, Guowen; Zhang, Haishan; Su, Zhiping; Zhang, Xiaoqian; Zhou, Haonan; Yu, Le; Chen, Chaoji; Wang, Xiaohui · Adv Mater · 2023

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The growing environmental concern over petrochemical-based plastics continuously promotes the exploration of green and sustainable substitute materials. Compared with petrochemical products, cellulose has overwhelming superiority in terms of availability, cost, and biodegradability; however, cellulose's dense hydrogen-bonding network and highly ordered crystalline structure make it hard to be thermoformed. A strategy to realize the partial disassociation of hydrogen bonds in cellulose and the reassembly of cellulose chains via constructing a dynamic covalent network, thereby endowing cellulose with thermal processability as indicated by the observation of a moderate glass transition temperature (T<sub>g</sub>  = 240 °C), is proposed. Moreover, the cellulosic bioplastic delivers a high tensile strength of 67 MPa, as well as excellent moisture and solvent resistance, good recyclability, and biodegradability in nature. With these advantageous features, the developed cellulosic bioplastic represents a promising alternative to traditional plastics.