Understanding the Physics of Polymer Depoloymerization for Polymer Recycling

To reduce the global accumulation of plastics in the environment, recyclable polymers have been a topic of increasing interest. One principle strategy is to develop polymers with low ceiling temperatures, which can be reversibly deconstructed (depolymerized) to yield pure monomer following an applied stimulus. It is then possible to re-polymerize recycled materials from the recovered monomer. In this talk, we use a hybrid Brownian Dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations to model the interaction of a polymer with a surface that can initiate depolymerization of linear and cyclic polymers. This can occur either through subsequent "unzipping" events or successive chain scission events. We consider both single- and multi-chain systems and quantify and develop models to predict the kinetic competitions between different depolymerization mechanisms.