Carbohydrates are one of the most prominent renewable resources produced by
plants. As the world moves toward a carbon-neutral, sustainable society, the development
of carbohydrate-based bio-polymers is actively pursued by both academia and industry.
However, the current range of bio-based polymers falls short of meeting the diverse
material requirements, from hard plastics to soft and stretchable elastomers. Additionally,
although most bio-based polymers are derived from carbohydrates, they often serve merely
as carbon sources, leaving the unique properties of sugars largely unutilized in material
design.
        Historically, polysaccharides like cellulose and their derivatives have been used
directly as polymer materials. However, due to their rigid molecular structures, these
materials tend to be predominantly hard and inflexible, making it inherently challenging to
construct elastomers from carbohydrates alone. To address this, we have explored an
approach to integrate carbohydrates with soft polymers in the form of block copolymers
(BCPs).
        BCPs offer the distinct advantage of forming ordered structures (microphase-
separated structures) due to the inherent incompatibility between the segments.
Additionally, they exhibit surfactant-like properties, enhancing adhesion and compatibility at
the interfaces of different polymers—a crucial factor for strengthening and toughening
polymer blends. In this presentation, I will introduce our recent studies on oligosaccharide-
containing BCPs for bio-based polymer applications.