Advancements in Castor Oil-Derived Smart Materials: A Comprehensive Mini-Review

Abstract

Smart materials encompass a class of materials capable of reorienting themselves in response to external stimuli (heat, light, and chemical), and generate smart properties such as self-healing (SH) and shape-memory (SM), etc. Recently, castor oil has emerged as a bio-renewable feedstock facilitating the synthesis of smart polymers such as polyurethanes and epoxidized castor oil (CO)-based polymers. Furthermore, fillers and nanomaterials have been added to prepare responsive materials (SH and SM) and drug delivery systems. This review delves into the recent developments in CO-based smart materials since 2015 under thermal, photo, and chemical stimuli and their applications in coating, adhesive, soft robotics, and drug delivery. Additionally, the challenges and future scopes for the development of castor oil-based advanced smart materials have been discussed.