Beckman researchers develop new strategy for creating recyclable, high-performance polymers

Beckman researchers have developed a novel approach to making thermoset polymers — materials essential to aerospace, electronics and infrastructure — both high-performing and recyclable by leveraging polymer entanglement and strategically limited, reversible crosslinking. The breakthrough, which preserves material properties including strength and stiffness across multiple recycling generations, lays the groundwork for rethinking the lifecycle of thermosets and opens the door to "generational material systems" whose properties can be intentionally reprogrammed over time.