Polymer Degradation: Category, Mechanism and Development Prospect

Abstract

With the increasing demand for polymers, white pollution has become a serious concern all around the world. The admirable degradation methods of them are desirable for overcoming this problem. In the past several decades, numerous researches on polymer degradation have been reported. This review commits to different degradation strategies of polymers and four main degradation protocols firstly, including photodegradation, oxidative degradation, catalytic degradation, and biodegradation, are demonstrated in detail. Secondly, some specific samples are discussed for each kind of degradation. Finally, the outlook and future of polymer degradation are proposed. In particular, the comprehensive comparison of different degradation methods is covered to provide the best choice for dealing with different polymers wastes. These will be beneficial to the development of processing plastic and conversion of polymer wastes.