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Updated: Jan 7, 2026

Reductive Electropolymerization of a Vinyl-containing Poly-pyridyl Complex on Glassy Carbon and Fluorine-doped Tin Oxide Electrodes
Published on: January 30, 2015
Depolymerization of Vinyl Polymers
Tanmoy Maity1, Don X Bones2, Rhys W Hughes1
1George and Josephine Butler Polymer Research Laboratory, Center for Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, United States.
Abstract:
Depolymerization is a promising approach to reduce plastic waste by regenerating monomers from polymers, presenting a compelling solution to maintain a circular polymer economy. However, vinyl polymers with all-carbon backbones are especially difficult to depolymerize due to significant thermodynamic and kinetic barriers. Developments in reversible-deactivation radical polymerization and catalytic methods demonstrate how tuning polymer structure and reaction conditions can address these challenges. This Viewpoint revisits early studies on radical depolymerization and recent advances enabling monomer recovery at lower temperatures. Exciting current trends to utilize depolymerization as a strategy for tuning polymer material properties and upcycling waste polymer to high-value products are discussed. We outline key directions to make vinyl polymer depolymerization scalable, efficient, and economically viable.
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