Depolymerization

At this temperature, the enthalpy of polymerization matches the entropy gained by converting a large molecule into monomers.

Digestion of food involves depolymerization of macromolecules, such as proteins.

Sometimes the depolymerization is well behaved, and clean monomers can be reclaimed and reused for making new plastic.

[4] Depolymerization is also related to production of chemicals and fuels from biomass.

A simple case is the hydrolysis of celluloses to glucose by the action of water.