To facilitate the ongoing transition toward a circular economy, the availability of renewable materials for additive manufacturing becomes increasingly important. Here, we report the successful fabrication of complex shaped prototypes from biobased acrylate photopolymer resins, employing a commercial stereolithography apparatus (SLA) 3D printer. Four distinct resins with a biobased content ranging from 34 to 67% have been developed. All formulations demonstrated adequate viscosity and were readily polymerizable by the UV-laser-based SLA process. Increasing the double-bond concentration within the resin results in stiff and thermally resilient 3D printed products. High-viscosity resins lead to high-resolution prototypes with a complex microarchitecture and excellent surface finishing, comparable to commercial nonrenewable resins. These advances can facilitate the wide application of biobased resins for construction of new sustainable products via stereolithographic 3D printing methods.

Acrylic photopolymer resins are widely used in stereolithographic 3D printing. However, the growing demand for such thermosetting resins is weighing on global issues such as waste management and fossil fuel consumption. Therefore, there is an increasing demand for reactive components that are biobased and enable recyclability of the resulting thermoset products. In this work, the synthesis of a photo-cross-linkable molecule containing dynamic imine bonds based on biobased vanillin and dimer fatty diamine is described. Using the biobased building blocks, formulations containing reactive diluent and a photoinitiator were prepared. The mixtures could be rapidly cross-linked under UV light, yielding vitrimers. Using digital light processing, 3D-printed parts were prepared, which were rigid, thermally stable, and reprocessed within 5 min at elevated temperature and pressure. The addition of a building block containing a higher concentration of imine bonds accelerated the stress relaxation and improved the mechanical rigidity of the vitrimers. This work will contribute to the development of biobased and recyclable 3D-printed resins to facilitate the transition to a circular economy.

Furanic polymers, currently mainly represented by polyethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate (PEF), also known as polyethylene furanoate, have a fantastic potential to replace fossil-based polymers: for example, polyethylene terephthalate (PET). While 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), a precursor of PEF, and its derived polymers have been studied extensively, 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)furan (BHMF) has received relatively little attention so far. Similarly to FDCA, BHMF is a biobased platform chemical derived from renewable sources such as sugars. This review highlights different polymerization techniques for BHMF-based polyesters and addresses BHMF's relative instability during the synthesis of BHMF-derived polymers, including polycarbonates and polyurethanes. Furthermore, the degradability of furanic polyesters is discussed and BHMF's toxicity is briefly elaborated.