Biodegradable plastics from carbon dioxide: opportunities and challenges

The last five decades have witnessed the rapid progress of CO2 copolymer science since the pioneering work of Shohei Inoue, which gave birth to carbon dioxide polymer chemistry based on design of heterogenous and homogeneous catalysts for carbon dioxide copolymerization. The increasing industry activity from CO2-based plastics indicates the era for new generation biodegradable plastics is coming. Although the preparation of CO2 based biodegradable plastics have benefits both for the utilization of waste resources and the production of environmental friendly materials, the lack of active and selective catalysts has always been the key factors impeding the large-scale industrialization of CO2-based plastics. This review focuses on the precise catalytic chemistry in CO2 copolymers, drawing a catalyst developing roadmap based on perspectives of precise, environmental-benign and cooperative catalysis, and pointing out the opportunities and challenges in this area.