New polymer design could make everyday plastics easier to break down without losing performance

An Ehime University research team directed by H.

Shimomoto and E.

Ihara has developed a new molecular design strategy that imparts degradability to carbon–carbon (C–C) backbone polymers.

The study, published in Macromolecules, demonstrates that incorporating alkoxycarbonylmethylene (ACM) units into polymer backbones creates specific sites that enable backbone cleavage under basic conditions while maintaining desirable material properties. ...