The chemical process of breaking down a polymer (a large molecule made of many repeated units) into smaller molecules or monomers.
From de- (reverse) + polymerization (linking small molecules into large chains), from Greek poly- (many) + -mer (part). Emerged in 20th-century chemistry as synthetic materials became important.
Depolymerization is how some plastics can theoretically be recycled back into their original building blocks—scientists are racing to perfect this because it could revolutionise how we handle plastic waste!
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