Polyols from Cashew Nutshell Liquid (CNSL), corner-stone building blocks for cutting edge biobased additives and polymers

Abstract

To be conPolyols are versatile molecules present in many polymers’ material belonging to and often essential to our daily life. A major part of biobased polyol is coming from sugar or vegetable oil and is in direct competition with food industry. CNSL is a promising non-edible renewable resource, directly extracted from the shell off the cashew nut. The interesting chemical structure of CNSL and its derivatives (cardanol, cardol) lead to the synthesis of original polyols with hydrophobic and internal plasticizing properties. Useful for the development of additive, such as surfactant, or soft polymers, CNSL polyols are progressively building its own seat at the polymer industry. Thus, this review focuses on CNSL as building block for various polyols. The many different chemical pathways leading to CNSL-based polyols are going to be reviewed and criticized. A certain focus will also be done about the use of these CNSL-based polyols as surfactants and polymer precursors and the contribution of their specific chemical structure (aromatic ring, long unsaturated alkyl chain) on the properties of the resulting polyesters or polyurethanes. firmed