• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.579-586
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• 2013

The shortage of fossil fuel and problem of greenhouse gas exhaustion drive the production of biopolymer in a environment-friendly manner. Polyurethane is a polymer formed by reacting an isocyanate (-NCO) with a polyol (-OH) to form urethane link (-NHCOO-). Polyurethane is one of the most widely used polymers in automobile, construction and chemical industries. Two monomers for the polymerization of polyurethane, polyols and isocyanates, can be produced from renewable biomass such as plant oil, cellulose, lignin and etc. Biopolyol production from plant oil has already been implemented in commercial-scale production. In this paper, recent progresses on bio-based approaches on the production of biopolyols, bio-isocyanates and bio-substituent or isocyanate from bio-feedstock are reviewed alongside polymerization and characterization of biopolyurethane for industrial applications.