Synthetic polymers are one of the most commonly used families of materials to be used in manufacturing consumer products. Lately, however, a worldwide effort has been made to push the industry towards sustainable polymers as a necessary measure to preserve environmental integrity. This chapter principally focuses on the processing methods and characterization techniques of sustainable polymers. The necessities and implications of sustainable polymers have been discussed. In addition to the processing techniques traditionally used in the industry such as extrusion, injection, spin casting and solvent casting, advanced processing methods were also discussed which include solvent evaporation, salting-out, nanoprecipitation, electrospinning, melt electrospinning and wet electrospinning. Advanced processing techniques facilitate the fabrication of sustainable polymers into relatively novel forms. Established methods of characterizing sustainable polymers have been discussed which include X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) thermogravimetry (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). Lastly, the chapter briefly goes over the recent advancements in the realm of sustainable polymers and challenges regarding their widespread adoption.
Elsevier, Advances in Bionanocomposites, 2023, pages 55-90
