Chemically recyclable polymer materials: polymerization and depolymerization cycles

Abstract

The design and synthesis of chemically recyclable polymers, which can be reutilized as their starting monomers or new value-added chemicals, has provided a practical approach to address the end-of-use problem of polymer materials and a possible closed-loop method for polymer material usage. More and more attention has been paid to chemically recyclable polymers, which exhibit an increasing and prominent role in sustainable development. Nowadays, chemically recyclable polymers including polyesters, polythioesters, polycarbonates, polyacetals, polyamides, and so on have made significant achievements. Consequently, this minireview summarizes the examples for achieving the polymerization–depolymerization cycle to access chemically recyclable polymers, which are categorized into seven parts based on monomers.