Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42358386›Full record

ArticleACS sustainable chemistry & engineering2026

Delamination of Multilayer Plastic Films to Recover Polyethylene with Favorable Mechanical Properties.

Jacob S Licht, Darrell D Mayberry, Kumari Sushmita, Yelin Ni, Jorge Ortiz Garcia, Justin Olson, Jose Ramos, Kevin L Simmons, Daniel R Merkel, Marina Tsianou and 1 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in ACS sustainable chemistry & engineering, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
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

11 authors.

Jacob S LichtDepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York (SUNY), Buffalo, New York 14260-4200, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3242-2758
Darrell D MayberryEngineered Materials Group, National Security Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8705-4778
Kumari SushmitaEnergy Processes and Materials Group, Energy and Environment Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5773-0467
Yelin NiEnergy Processes and Materials Group, Energy and Environment Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States.
Jorge Ortiz GarciaEnergy Processes and Materials Group, Energy and Environment Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States.
Justin OlsonEnergy Processes and Materials Group, Energy and Environment Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States.
Jose RamosEnergy Processes and Materials Group, Energy and Environment Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States.
Kevin L SimmonsEnergy Processes and Materials Group, Energy and Environment Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States.
Daniel R MerkelEnergy Processes and Materials Group, Energy and Environment Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States.
Marina TsianouDepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York (SUNY), Buffalo, New York 14260-4200, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3340-627X
Paschalis AlexandridisDepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York (SUNY), Buffalo, New York 14260-4200, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6989-8232

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Multilayer plastic films play a critical role in packaging, with each polymer layer contributing specific properties to the multilayer film. Multilayer plastic films are not currently recyclable due to the bound polymers. With multilayer film production of about 20 million metric tons in 2024 and rising, end-of-life treatment becomes pressing. This work presents a scalable solvent-based delamination recycling process that is applied to commercial postindustrial multimaterial films to unbind the materials within a multilayer film by dissolving only the adhesive layer and recover polyethylene (PE) as an intact solid film. Solvent-based delamination is a simple process that allows the complete recovery of materials and solvents used in the process. The delaminating solvent, 88% formic acid in water, induces delamination of PE/PEI/PET and PE/PU/PET films at 70 °C in under an hour. Recovered PE has no contamination detected by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and mechanical properties on par with those of virgin resin. The recovery of high-quality solid PE film fit for reprocessing, at low operating temperatures and with closed-loop solvent reuse, promotes delamination as a low energy consumption and environmentally friendly recycling process. PE recovered from delamination can be reused in equivalent products, promoting circularity of multimaterial films.

Indexed as

chemical recyclingflexible filmmolecular recyclingmultilayer filmplastics recyclingpolyethylenepolyolefinsustainability

Identifiers

PMID42358386
PMCPMC13292398

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.