Biobased polyamide ecomaterials and their susceptibility to biodegradation

Abstract

Widely used petrochemical polymers have negative impact on the environment, so the use of biobased material should become widespread due to growing interest in sustainability and environmental issues. The use of renewable raw materials substantially improves the carbon footprint and has a positive impact on the life-cycle assessment of plastic products; thus, the development of polyamides from renewable resources - one of the largest industrial scale engineering plastics of great significance - is very important. This review focuses on recent research and development of biobased polyamides. Environmental impact of polyamides is described in view of the potential applications in various fields. Biodegradation of polyamides and some factors affecting their biodegradability are also presented.