ArticleNature communications2026
Photo-initiated solvent-mediated depolymerization of consumer poly(methyl methacrylate) without chlorinated reagents.
Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Chlorine-Free Depolymerization of Commercial PMMA via Oxygen-Centered Radicals.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2026Article
- Visible light-triggered co-upcycling of polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate using waste chlorinated solvents.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Depolymerization of Commercial Polymethacrylates Triggered by Hydroperoxides.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2026Article
- Photocatalytic Depolymerization of Commercial Polymethacrylates via a Solvent-Independent Pathway.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The chemical recycling of commodity acrylic polymers, such as the transparent thermoplastic polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), typically requires temperatures of 350-400°C. Herein, we report chemical recycling back to monomers for PMMA between 120-180°C, through UV illumination under oxygen-free conditions. We have achieved gram-scale degradation of consumer plastic with >95% conversion, yielding >70% monomer, which can be readily repolymerized. The process proceeds even at high concentrations (>1 M) and depends strongly on solvent choice: aromatic solvents like dichlorobenzene and diphenyl ether maximize conversion. In contrast to a concurrently published study, we report that chlorine radicals are not required for depolymerization; however, when present, they react with the unzipping chain to form chlorine-functionalized PMMA which can be upcycled through derivatization. In more sustainable non-chlorinated solvents such as benzonitrile, minimal termination by radicals enables complete unzipping. These findings demonstrate a low-temperature, scalable route for the chemical recycling of PMMA, offering alternative pathways for plastic circularity.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.