Polymer

Polymers, also known as polymers, are compounds with a relative molecular weight of more than 10,000 formed by covalent bonds of thousands of atoms, which can be divided into inorganic polymers and organic polymers. Organic polymer compounds can be divided into natural organic polymer compounds and synthetic organic polymer compounds, among which natural organic polymer compounds include starch, cellulose, etc., and synthetic organic polymer compounds include polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride, which have large relative molecular weight and simple chemical structure, which are arranged by numerous monomers in a large and repeated way. Monomer refers to the low molecular weight compounds that make up polymer compounds.
There are three important methods for the synthesis of polymers, one is organic synthesis in factories or laboratories, the other is biosynthesis in cells and organs, natural polymers and biopolymers are synthesized in or within cells, mainly with the assistance of enzymes, and third, the chemical improvement of natural polymers, there are two famous examples, the reaction of nitric acid and cellulose to produce nitrocellulose. The vulcanization reaction of rubber and sulfur improves the properties of natural rubber.
Polymers are also widely used in industry. Our common ones are polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene and polycarbonate.