Electricity-driven photodegradable polymer synthesis from CO2 and H2O

Polyolefin plastics, the most widely used synthetic polymers, face dual challenges of heavy fossil fuel dependence and remarkable environmental persistence. Utilizing carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water (H₂O) as sole feedstocks to produce degradable polyolefins offers a promising shift toward both resource sustainability and pollution mitigation. Here we present a room-temperature, continuous cascade approach for the gram‐scale synthesis of photodegradable polyethyleneketones from CO2 and H2O. This process, powered by a synergistic combination of high-pressure electrocatalytic CO2 reduction and hydrogen-accelerated catalytic copolymerization, operates continuously without the need for any sacrificial reagents, consuming only green electric energy. We successfully synthesized a series of photodegradable materials including polyethyleneketones and polyethylenepyrroles, demonstrating tunable properties ranging from rigid thermosets to flexible elastomers.