Bio-based polyurethane (Bio-PU) not only has excellent performance, but also meets the current requirements of circular economy and sustainable development, and is one of the important strategic emerging industries of bio-economy.

Bio-based polyurethane industry driven by "double carbon" target

Bio-PU preparation is listed as a key technology in the technology roadmap of the key areas of Made in China 2025.

In 2021, the "China Polyurethane Industry's Fourteenth Five-Year Development Guide" was released, emphasizing the promotion of green production processes and environmentally friendly products, accelerating the development and promotion of bio-based, degradable and recyclable products, and focusing on the recycling, treatment and reuse of polyurethane materials.

In the background of the trend of carbon neutral and sustainable development, the industry and market of bio-based materials are developing rapidly. As a common application class material, PU is naturally not lagging behind in the bio-based development process, with head producers such as Centurion, BASF, Lubrizol, Costco and Merry New Materials having launched related products.

The major manufacturers launched bio-based PU products are comparable to petroleum-based products in terms of performance, the difference lies mainly in the level of bio-based content, generally in the 30 to 40%, individual can be higher, such as Sheng Xi'ao has a bio-based content of up to 64% of the TPU grade, this year Wanhua Chemical also launched a 100% Bio-PU products, used in footwear, film, consumer electronics, food contact and other fields.

PU is a block copolymer made by copolymerizing isocyanate and polyol, and chain extender.

Since bio-based materials are emphasizing the sustainability of raw materials, the preparation of bio-based PU is relatively easy to understand. The common method is to introduce bio-based monomers or intermediates in the polymerization process, such as bio-based isocyanate, bio-based polyol, bio-based BDO (butylene glycol), bio-based PDO (propylene glycol), etc.

Bio-PU uses biomass (including straw and other agricultural and forestry crops) as raw materials and adopts biofermentation technology to produce lysine isocyanate to replace aromatic and aliphatic isocyanate; biofermentation technology to produce bio-based polyol, etc. to replace polyester polyol and polyether polyol produced from petrochemical materials, and the final bio-based polyurethane produced meets environmental protection and low-carbon requirements with superior performance.

Bio-PU environmental benefits

Bio-based PU is extracted from renewable resources, overturning the infinite possibilities of the PU material industry, introducing the concept of sustainability from the source material design, and promoting low-carbon manufacturing and green consumption.

Taking a typical bio-based polyol in the market as an example, it has significant environmental benefits in replacing petroleum-based products and can achieve a carbon reduction target of about 40%.

Bio-PU unlocks green and high performance application scenarios of polyurethane

As a material with excellent comprehensive performance, Bio-PU has a wide range of downstream product directions and has been applied to high-performance scenarios such as apparel and footwear (synthetic leather, sole components), luggage (synthetic leather), construction (paints, insulation materials), and automotive (coatings, components, adhesives), guarding healthy life quality and unlocking a green future.

Bio-PU, which is made of PLA polyol, has been applied to coatings, pastes, adhesives, sealants, foams, elastomers, etc. It can improve the gloss, abrasion resistance, hardness, tensile strength and other properties of materials, and can be used in new trendy home furnishings, new energy vehicles, ecological outdoor equipment and other medium and high-end brands.

PLA polyols can also be synthesized into UV resins, which are used in UV adhesives, UV coatings, UV inks, 3D printing and other fields.

3D printing manufacturers have launched bio-based PLA light-curing 3D printing resin (UV resin) to promote photosensitive 3D printing into an environmentally friendly era. PLA bio-based photosensitive resin is synthesized based on PLA polyol, with good toughness, low odor and smooth surface of printed parts. It has passed the EN71-3 toy certification standard and is safer to use; good toughness and can be drilled without cracking; low odor and more comfortable to use.