ArticleNature communications2026
A universal photothermal recycling strategy for post-consumer plastics using bio-derived porous carbon.
Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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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.
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
Chemical recycling of plastics into monomers offers a promising strategy for addressing global plastic pollution. However, most chemical recycling methods are limited to specific polymers. Pyrolysis offers generality for universal polymer recycling; however, overheating leads to energy inefficiencies and degradation products, which limits its practicality. Herein, we report a photothermal depolymerization approach that is general to numerous polymers with high selectivity. Distinct from previous approaches, we identify a porous carbon material derived from proteins as a high-surface-area photothermal agent that does not require direct incorporation into polymer resin. Using low carbon loadings, we successfully depolymerize a wide range of polymers, including polystyrene (PS), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), trans-polyisoprene, poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC), poly(L-lactide) (PLLA), poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), and bisphenol-A polycarbonate (BPA-PC). Additionally, the porous carbon material is reusable at least five times by sequentially adding polystyrene films to the post-reacted porous carbon materials. Excitingly, this method is broadly applicable to post-consumer plastics without preprocessing and is readily scalable, demonstrating the versatility of this closed-loop chemical recycling approach.
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Registered trials
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