Fixation of carbon dioxide into valuable products is a promising method to mitigate the issues of global warming and decrease the consumption of fossil-fuel carbon sources. Poly alkylene carbonates (PACs) are environmentally friendly and low-cost polymers that are synthesized from copolymerization of carbon dioxide and epoxides. PACs are contemplated as an alternative to commercially available non-degradable polymers in the market for a broad range of applications. However, a burden for the synthesis of this group of polymers is the chemical activation of thermodynamically stable CO2. It is, therefore, imperative to develop a catalyst with high efficiency to overcome this hurdle. In this chapter, we describe the development and recent advances in the catalytic systems that have been designed to activate CO2 for copolymerization with epoxides. In particular, we will focus on the industrial trends presented in the patents for conversion of CO2 into PACs.
Part of the book: Advanced Catalytic Materials