Chapter 21
Synthetic Polymers
![Characteristics and Nomenclature of Homopolymers](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/12912.jpg)
Polymers that are made up of identical monomer units are called homopolymers. Only one repeating unit is involved in the construction of the…
![Characteristics and Nomenclature of Copolymers](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/12913.jpg)
Copolymers are the products obtained from the polymerization of multiple monomer species. So, in a polymer chain itself, there can be multiple…
![Polymers: Molecular Weight Distribution](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/12915.jpg)
For any given polymer, the weight average molecular weight (Mw) is higher than, if not equal to, the number average molecular weight (Mn). The only…
![Polymer Classification: Architecture](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/12916.jpg)
Polymers are classified as linear or branched on the basis of their chain architecture. The polymer chains in linear polymers have a long chain-like…
![Polymer Classification: Stereospecificity](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/12918.jpg)
Polymerization generates chiral centers along the entire backbone of a polymer chain. Accordingly, the stereochemistry of the substituent group has a…
![Radical Chain-Growth Polymerization: Overview](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/12920.jpg)
Chain-growth or addition polymerization is successive addition reactions of monomers with a polymer chain. In radical chain-growth polymerization,…
![Radical Chain-Growth Polymerization: Chain Branching](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/12922.jpg)
The skeletal structure of polymers synthesized via radical polymerization is always branched. For example, the polymerization of ethylene by radical…
![Anionic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Overview](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/12923.jpg)
The polymerization process that involves carbanion as an intermediate is called anionic polymerization. It is also a type of addition or chain-growth…
![Cationic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/12926.jpg)
The cationic polymerization mechanism consists of three steps: initiation, propagation, and termination. In the initiation step of the polymerization…
![Ziegler–Natta Chain-Growth Polymerization: Overview](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/12927.jpg)
Ziegler–Natta polymerization is another form of addition or chain‐growth polymerization used for synthesizing linear polymers over…
![Molecular Weight of Step-Growth Polymers](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/12930.jpg)
Step growth polymerization involves bi or multifunctional monomers. Bifunctional monomers react to form linear step growth polymers, whereas…
![Types of Step-Growth Polymers: Polyesters](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/12932.jpg)
The introduction of polyesters has brought major development to the textile industry. The wrinkle-free behavior of polyester blends has eliminated…
![Fabricating Superhydrophobic Polymeric Materials for Biomedical Applications](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/thumbs/53117_t.png)
Superhydrophobic materials, with surfaces possessing permanent or metastable non-wetted states, are of interest for a number of biomedical and…
![Anionic Polymerization of an Amphiphilic Copolymer for Preparation of Block Copolymer Micelles Stabilized by π-π Stacking Interactions](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/thumbs/54422_t.png)
In this study, an amphiphilic copolymer that includes a core-forming block with phenyl groups was synthesized by living anionic polymerization of…
![Characterization of Synthetic Polymers via Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time of Flight (MALDI-TOF) Mass Spectrometry](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/thumbs/57174_t.png)
Characterization of Synthetic Polymers via Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time of Flight (MALDI-TOF) Mass Spectrometry
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There are many techniques that can be employed in the characterization of synthetic homopolymers, but few provide as useful of information for end…