Visible light-triggered depolymerization of commercial polymethacrylates

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Wang, Hyun Suk; Agrachev, Mikhail; Kim, Hongsik; Truong, Nghia P.; Choi, Tae-Lim; Jeschke, Gunnar; Anastasaki, Athina
• 署名单位: Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain; ETH Zurich; Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain; ETH Zurich; Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain; ETH Zurich
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-13979
• DOI: 10.1126/science.adr1637
• 发表日期: 2025-02-21
• 页码: 874-880
• 关键词: polymerization; acid)

摘要

The reversion of vinyl polymers with carbon-carbon backbones to their monomers represents an ideal path to alleviate the growing plastic waste stream. However, depolymerizing such stable materials remains a challenge, with state-of-the-art methods relying on designer polymers that are neither commercially produced nor suitable for real-world applications. In this work, we report a main chain-initiated, visible light-triggered depolymerization directly applicable to commercial polymers containing undisclosed impurities (e.g., comonomers, additives, or dyes). By in situ generation of chlorine radicals directly from the solvent, near-quantitative (>98%) depolymerization of polymethacrylates could be achieved regardless of their synthetic route (e.g., radical or ionic polymerization), end group, and molecular weight (up to 1.6 million daltons). The possibility to perform multigram-scale depolymerizations and confer temporal control renders this methodology a versatile and general route to recycling.