Electrifying depolymerization back to monomers

Abstract

Developing mild depolymerization routes to regenerate monomers from hydrocarbon-based polymers is critical to enabling a circular polymer economy. In a recent paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society , Evans, Sumerlin, and co-workers disclose a methodology for the electrochemically triggered depolymerization of poly(methyl-methacrylate) that achieves >95 wt % depolymerization.