Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42298191›Full record

ArticleNature materials2026

Chain entanglements enable regeneration of high-performance thermosets.

Zhenchuang Xu, Edgar B Mejia, Tyler C Price, Ignacio Arretche, Shuyi Zhang, Ruishi Lei, Valerie Chen, Hannah Liu, Shaofeng Huang, Boran Chen and 4 more

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Nature materials, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Zhenchuang XuBeckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA. zxu2023@illinois.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9317-3231
Edgar B Mejia *Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9719-884X
Tyler C Price *Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0000-0187-5640
Ignacio ArretcheBeckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1443-0506
Shuyi ZhangDepartment of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0005-0465-7493
Ruishi LeiBeckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
Valerie ChenBeckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0001-6489-3878
Hannah LiuBeckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
Shaofeng HuangBeckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2565-0005
Boran ChenBeckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0008-7234-7691
Sameh H TawfickBeckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3645-527X
Jeremiah A JohnsonDepartment of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9157-6491
Nancy R SottosBeckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA. n-sottos@illinois.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5818-520X
Jeffrey S MooreBeckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA. jsmoore@illinois.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5841-6269

Funding

DOE | SC | Basic Energy Sciences (BES) DE-SC0023457
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Thermoset plastics underpin structural materials, electronics and transportation, yet the permanent covalent networks that prevent flow and provide dimensional stability also make them difficult to recycle without sacrificing performance. Here we show that high-performance thermosets can be built around dense chain entanglements, the physical interlacing of long polymer strands, rather than dense permanent crosslinks, with only a small number of selectively cleavable junctions preserving connectivity. Long, rigid, entangled polyolefin backbones generated by frontal polymerization form glassy polymers with high stiffness, high toughness and excellent creep suppression yet can be fully deconstructed into soluble, linear oligomers. Varying oligomer length and end-group chemistry enables their reuse as re-entangling building blocks that regenerate thermosets with thermal and mechanical properties that remain unchanged across generations. The strategy further extends to high-temperature fibre-reinforced composite matrices and additively manufactured structures, establishing chain entanglement as a design principle for durable, regenerable thermosets.

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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.