Polymer chemistry is a sub-discipline of chemistry that focuses on the structures of chemicals, chemical synthesis, and chemical and physical properties of polymers and macromolecules. The principles and methods used within polymer chemistry are also applicable through a wide range of other chemistry sub-disciplines like organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, and physical chemistry. Many materials have polymeric structures, from fully inorganic metals and ceramics to DNA and other biological molecules. However, polymer chemistry is typically related to synthetic and organic compositions. Synthetic polymers are ubiquitous in commercial materials and products in everyday use, such as plastics, and rubbers, and are major components of composite materials. Polymer chemistry can also be included in the broader fields of polymer science or even nanotechnology, both of which can be described as encompassing polymer physics and polymer engineering.
In polymer chemistry, a copolymer is a polymer derived from more than one species of monomer. The polymerization of monomers into copolymers is called copolymerization. Copolymers obtained from the copolymerization of two monomer species are sometimes called bipolymers. Those obtained from three and four monomers are called terpolymers and quaterpolymers, respectively. Copolymers can be characterized by a variety of techniques such as NMR spectroscopy and size-exclusion chromatography to determine the molecular size, weight, properties, and composition of the material.
In organic chemistry and biochemistry, a side chain is a chemical group that is attached to a core part of the molecule called the "main chain" or backbone. The side chain is a hydrocarbon branching element of a molecule that is attached to a larger hydrocarbon backbone. It is one factor in determining a molecule's properties and reactivity. A side chain is also known as a pendant chain, but a pendant group has a different definition.
Polymer science or macromolecular science is a subfield of materials science concerned with polymers, primarily synthetic polymers such as plastics and elastomers. The field of polymer science includes researchers in multiple disciplines including chemistry, physics, and engineering.
Eric Baer, is an American scientist and engineer known for his major research and educational contributions to polymer science and engineering. He is a leading pioneer in understanding the complex relationships between solid state structure, processing, and properties of polymeric materials and systems.
Ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) is a type of olefin metathesis chain-growth polymerization. The driving force of the reaction is relief of ring strain in cyclic olefins. A variety of heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts have been developed. Most large-scale commercial processes rely on the former while some fine chemical syntheses rely on the homogeneous catalysts. Catalysts are based on transition metals such as W, Mo, Re, Ru, and Ti.
Advanced Functional Materials is a peer-reviewed scientific journal, published by Wiley-VCH. Established in February 2001, the journal began to publish monthly in 2002 and moved to 18/year in 2006, biweekly in 2008, and weekly in 2013.
The CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics is a comprehensive one-volume reference resource for science research. First published in 1914, it is currently in its 103rd edition, published in 2022. It is sometimes nicknamed the "Rubber Bible" or the "Rubber Book", as CRC originally stood for "Chemical Rubber Company".
Neopentyl glycol is an organic chemical compound. It is used in the synthesis of polyesters, paints, lubricants, and plasticizers. When used in the manufacture of polyesters, it enhances the stability of the product towards heat, light, and water. By esterification reaction with fatty or carboxylic acids, synthetic lubricating esters with reduced potential for oxidation or hydrolysis, compared to natural esters, can be produced.
Otto Vogl was an American chemist, polymer scientist, and educator.
Kyoko Nozaki is a Japanese chemist and Professor of Chemistry at University of Tokyo in Japan.
Institut Charles Sadron is a research center of the Centre national de la recherche scientifique, associated with the University of Strasbourg, which was created in 1954 to answer the demand for fundamental research in the emerging field of polymer science.
The Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology is a series of peer-reviewed scientific journals covering the fields of photochemistry and photobiology, published by Elsevier. It was originally established in 1972, and split into Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry and Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology in 1987. A third title; Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology C: Photochemistry Reviews, was established in 2000 and is the official journal of the Japanese Photochemistry Association.
Menachem Lewin, was an Israeli chemist. Lewin worked in polymer, fiber and nanotechnology research. Until his death, a month before his 93rd birthday, Lewin was in charge of a research program at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University. In 2009, he was appointed as editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia on Fiber science and Engineering, to be published by Wiley in New York. Lewin obtained 29 U.S. and European patents and published 175 peer-reviewed publications. He was the founder (1990) and editor-in-chief of the international monthly journal Polymers for Advanced Technologies (PAT). PAT sponsors international biannual symposia for scientists, and Lewin often served as chairman, co-chairman or honorary chairman.
Food physical chemistry is considered to be a branch of Food chemistry concerned with the study of both physical and chemical interactions in foods in terms of physical and chemical principles applied to food systems, as well as the applications of physical/chemical techniques and instrumentation for the study of foods. This field encompasses the "physiochemical principles of the reactions and conversions that occur during the manufacture, handling, and storage of foods."
Timothy P. Lodge is an American polymer scientist.
Viswanathan Sasisekharan is an Indian biophysicist known for his work on the structure and conformation of biopolymers. He introduced the use of torsion angles to describe polypeptide and protein conformation, a central principle of the plot. Additionally, he proposed alternative models of DNA structure that provided insights beyond the standard double helix model. For his contributions to the biological sciences, he was awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of India’s highest science awards, in 1978.
The methods for sequence analysis of synthetic polymers differ from the sequence analysis of biopolymers. Synthetic polymers are produced by chain-growth or step-growth polymerization and show thereby polydispersity, whereas biopolymers are synthesized by complex template-based mechanisms and are sequence-defined and monodisperse. Synthetic polymers are a mixture of macromolecules of different length and sequence and are analysed via statistical measures.
Morton Mace Denn is an Albert Einstein Professor of Science and Engineering Emeritus at the City College of New York (CCNY). He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
