Cardanol: A promising building block for biobased polymers and additives

Abstract

Among the renewable resource materials, cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) is considered as an important starting material due to its unique structural features, abundant availability and low cost. A large number of chemicals and products have been developed starting from CNSL by taking advantage of the three reactive sites, namely, phenolic hydroxyl, aromatic ring and unsaturation(s) in the alkenyl side chain. Increasing attention is paid to promising cardanol-based products that could be have potential interest in industry, such as epoxy and acrylic monomers, plasticizers and surfactants.