Carbon dioxide copolymers: Emerging sustainable materials for versatile applications

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is cheap, renewable, abundant, and nontoxic carbon feedstocks in chemical reactions. In the past two decades, utilization of CO 2 in polymer science has become a meaningful topic bridging two separate subjects, namely CO 2 valorization and sustainable polymer synthesis. This review summarizes the recent progress in CO 2 copolymer materials from synthesis to material performance adjustment, focusing on commercialized or potential commodity sustainable materials such as biodegradable polycarbonates and new structure polyurethanes from CO 2 ‐polyol building blocks.