Taylor F. Nelson

Taylor F. Nelson

Polymer chemist studying how plastics and new polymer materials degrade in the environment.

Peer-reviewed journal articles, newest first. A full list is also on Google Scholar.

  1. Sun, Z.; Nelson, T. F.; Mecking, S.; Schmidt-Rohr, K. Different Crystalline Chain Conformations Detected by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Account for Even–Odd Effects in Biodegradable Polyethylene-Like PE-2,N Polyesters. Macromolecules 2026, 59, 10348–10358.
  2. Sun, Z.; Nelson, T. F.; Mecking, S.; Schmidt-Rohr, K. Interfacial and Crystalline Gauche OCH2–CH2O Layers in Biodegradable and Recyclable Polyethylene-like Polyesters Detected by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2025, 147, 45924–45935.
  3. Nelson, T. F.; Baumgartner, R.; Jaggi, M.; Bernasconi, S. M.; Battagliarin, G.; Sinkel, C.; Künkel, A.; Kohler, H.-P. E.; McNeill, K.; Sander, M. Biodegradation of Synthetic Aliphatic-Aromatic Polyesters in Soils: Linking Chemical Structure to Biodegradability. Environmental Science & Technology 2025, 59, 19966–19977.
  4. Rothauer, D.; Mecking, S.; Nelson, T. F.* Aliphatic–aromatic copolyesters with waste-sourceable multiple chain-length building blocks. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 2025, 13, 3280–3288.
  5. Schwab, S. T.; Bühler, L. Y.; Schleheck, D.; Nelson, T. F.; Mecking, S. Correlation of enzymatic depolymerization rates with the structure of polyethylene-like long-chain aliphatic polyesters. ACS Macro Letters 2024, 13, 1245–1250.
  6. Schwab, S. T.; Nelson, T. F.; Mecking, S. Chemically recyclable and biodegradable vulcanized rubber. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 2024, 12, 6281–6288.
  7. Cheng, C.; Shi, J. X.; Kang, E.-H.; Nelson, T. F.; Sander, M.; McNeill, K.; Hartwig, J. F. Polymers from plant oils linked by siloxane bonds for programmed depolymerization. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2024, 146, 12645–12655.
  8. Birkle, M.; Mehringer, H. S.; Nelson, T. F.; Mecking, S. Aliphatic polyester materials from renewable 2,3-butanediol. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 2024, 12, 4156–4163.
  9. Schwab, S. T.; Baur, M.; Nelson, T. F.; Mecking, S. Synthesis and deconstruction of polyethylene-type materials. Chemical Reviews 2024, 124, 2327–2351.
  10. Nelson, T. F.*; Rothauer, D.; Sander, M.; Mecking, S. Degradable and recyclable polyesters from multiple chain length bio- and waste-sourceable monomers. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2023, 62, e202310729.
  11. Nelson, T. F.*; Ward, C. P. Diffusion-ordered spectroscopy for rapid and facile determination of consumer plastic molecular weight. Analytical Chemistry 2023, 95, 8560–8568.
  12. Eck, M.; Schwab, S. T.; Nelson, T. F.; Wurst, K.; Iberl, S.; Schleheck, D.; Link, C.; Battagliarin, G.; Mecking, S. Biodegradable high-density polyethylene-like material. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2023, 62, e202213438.
  13. Walsh, A. N.; Mazzotta, M. G.; Nelson, T. F.; Reddy, C. M.; Ward, C. P. Synergy between sunlight, titanium dioxide, and microbes enhances cellulose diacetate degradation in the ocean. Environmental Science & Technology 2022, 56, 13810–13819.
  14. Nelson, T. F.; Baumgartner, R.; Jaggi, M.; Bernasconi, S. M.; Battagliarin, G.; Sinkel, C.; Künkel, A.; Kohler, H.-P. E.; McNeill, K.; Sander, M. Biodegradation of poly(butylene succinate) in soil laboratory incubations assessed by stable carbon isotope labelling. Nature Communications 2022, 13, 5691.
  15. Batiste, D. C.; De Hoe, G. X.; Nelson, T. F.; Sodnikar, K.; McNeill, K.; Sander, M.; Hillmyer, M. A. Site-specific mineralization of a polyester hydrolysis product in natural soil. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 2022, 10, 1373–1378.
  16. Nelson, T. F.*; Reddy, C. M.; Ward, C. P. Product formulation controls the impact of biofouling on consumer plastic photochemical fate in the ocean. Environmental Science & Technology 2021, 55, 8898–8907.
  17. Nelson, T. F.; Remke, S. C.; Kohler, H.-P. E.; McNeill, K.; Sander, M. Quantification of synthetic polyesters from biodegradable mulch films in soils. Environmental Science & Technology 2020, 54, 266–275.
  18. Zumstein, M. T.; Schintlmeister, A.; Nelson, T. F.; Baumgartner, R.; Woebken, D.; Wagner, M.; Kohler, H.-P. E.; McNeill, K.; Sander, M. Biodegradation of synthetic polymers in soils: Tracking carbon into CO2 and microbial biomass. Science Advances 2018, 4, eaas9024.
  19. Walpen, N.; Lau, M. P.; Fiskal, A.; Getzinger, G. J.; Meyer, S. A.; Nelson, T. F.; Lever, M. A.; Schroth, M. H.; Sander, M. Oxidation of reduced peat particulate organic matter by dissolved oxygen: Quantification of apparent rate constants in the field. Environmental Science & Technology 2018, 52, 11151–11160.