Introduction to Physical Polymer Science
Chapter One
INTRODUCTION TO
POLYMER SCIENCE
Polymer science was born in the great industrial laboratories of the world of
the need to make and understand new kinds of plastics, rubber, adhesives,
fibers, and coatings. Only much later did polymer science come to academic
life. Perhaps because of its origins, polymer science tends to be more inter-disciplinary
than most sciences, combining chemistry, chemical engineering,
materials, and other fields as well.
Chemically, polymers are long-chain molecules of very high molecular
weight, often measured in the hundreds of thousands. For this reason, the term
"macromolecules" is frequently used when referring to polymeric materials.
The trade literature sometimes refers to polymers as resins, an old term that
goes back before the chemical structure of the long chains was understood.
The first polymers used were natural products, especially cotton, starch, proteins,
and wool. Beginning early in the twenti ... read full excerpt from Introduction to Physical Polymer Science ebook
