What is a polymer

What is a polymer?

Polymer or large molecule or polymer are very large molecules that are formed by connecting several hundred monomers to each other and forming long chains. The word polymer has Greek roots and is composed of the word “poly” meaning several and “mer” meaning part or parts.

What is a monomer?

A monomer is the smallest repeating unit of a polymer. For example, if you consider a rosary as a polymer chain, the rosary beads are its monomers.

What is polymerization?

It is a process in which monomer molecules are joined together to form a large polymer molecule. Polymerization is the process of bonding monomers through a series of chemical reactions.

Classification of types of polymers

Polymers can be classified in different ways, the most common of which are as follows. Of course, polymers are divided into two types, engineering and common, depending on the type of construction and their application, and each of them is described in separate sections.

A) Types of polymers in terms of origin

B) Types of polymers in terms of heat reaction

C) Types of polymers in terms of chain structure

D) Types of polymers in terms of crystallinity

E) Types of monomer-based polymers

C) Types of polymers in terms of application and physical properties

G) Types of polymers in terms of tactical arrangement

Classification by origin

Polymers are divided into three categories in terms of origin: natural, synthetic and semi-synthetic.

Natural polymers: Polymers that are made only from materials found in nature, such as wool, silk, natural rubber, cellulose, protein, starch, etc.
Synthetic or synthetic polymers: Polymers that are made in the laboratory from low molecular weight molecules. Such as nylons, polyethylene, polyester, synthetic rubbers, PVC, Teflon and …
Semi-synthetic polymers: Polymers made from the simple chemical modification of natural polymers to modify properties. Such as cellulose acetate, cellulose nitrate and …