What Is Polymer ?

 Word polymer is come from the Greek “poly” meaning many and “meros”, parts or units.
 Polymer are macromolecules (large molecule of higher molecular weight) formed by repeated
linking of large number of small molecule called monomers.
 A polymer is a chain like molecule made up of smaller unit “monomers”.
 The monomers, is made up of atoms, bond together to form a polymer that usually has a carbon
backbone.

*** This linking up of monomer is called polymerization.

What Is Oligomer?

 Oligomer is from greek word which is oligo meaning few

 A low molecular weight polymer
 Contain at least two monomer units
 Example : Hexatriacontane is an oligomer of polyethylene

Polyethylene
 Monomer Oligomer Polymer

Conclusion

What Is Polymer?

 Polymer is a large molecule made up of small building block monomers.

 Monomer is building blocks.
 Homopolymer is what you get if the building blocks are all the same.
 Copolymer is a polymer made up of different monomers.
 Blend is a mixture of different polymers.
 Structure

line structure tacticity long range chemical

representation (symmetry) order structure constituent

linear isotactic crystalline organic

branched syndiotactic amorphous inorganic

network atactic organometallic

1) Line structure representation

 Linear
o The skeleton of the polymer’s structure is represented by simple line (mainly zig-zag)
of finite lengths.
o Example : linear polyethylene, polybutadiene, nylon- 6
 Branched
o These branched lines may arise due to uncontrolled reaction, deliberate grafting with
other monomer or even designing of a polymer where each repeat unit generates a new
branching point.
o Under ideal conditions, the polymer becomes spherical three-dimensional structures
without any crosslinking.

 Network
o Represented as a network structure or planar geometry like graphite or space network
as in diamond.
o Chemically bonded polymers.
o They are insoluble and infusible three dimensional giant molecules
2) Tacticity ( symmetry )
 Syndiotactic
o In syndiotactic or syntactic macromolecules the substituents have alternate positions
along the chain. Syndiotactic polystyrene, made by metallocene
catalysis polymerization, is crystalline with a melting point of 161 °C. Gutta percha is
also an example for Syndiotactic polymer.
o The compactness and crystallinity are intermediate among the isotactic isomers of the
same polymers.

 Atactic
o Due to their random nature atactic polymers are usually amorphous. In hemi isotactic
macromolecules every other repeat unit has a random substituent. ... If a special catalyst
is used in its synthesis it is possible to obtain the syndiotactic version of this polymer,
but most industrial polystyrene produced isatactic.
o They have the lowest strength but the highest solubility.

 Isotactic
o Isotactic polymers are composed of isotactic macromolecules (IUPAC definition).
In isotactic macromolecules all the substituents are located on the same side of the
macromolecular backbone. An isotactic macromolecule consists of 100% meso diads.
Polypropylene formed by Ziegler-Natta catalysis is an isotactic polymer.
o Examples are isotactic polypropylene, isotactic methyl styrene.
3) Long range order structure
 Crystalline
o If the polymers have certain degree of crystallinity in their structures due to the
orderness of some segments of polymer chains, they are termed as crystalline polymers.
However, the nature of crystallinity of polymers is not the same as low molecular
weight chemical compounds like benzoic acid, NaCl.

 Amorphous
o Amorphous polymers can be defined as polymers that do not exhibit any crystalline
structures in X-ray or electron scattering experiments. They form a broad group of
materials, including glassy, brittle and ductile polymers. In contrast to the word
“amorphous”, weak domain-like or globular structures can exist, which are often only
visible after pretreatment of the material.

 Semi crystalline
o The reason these materials are called "semicrystalline" is that some fraction of
the polymer remains un-crystallized, or, amorphous when the polymer is cooled to
room temperature. The amorphouspolymer becomes trapped between the growing
crystals.
4) Chemical constituent
 Organic
o If the carbon atoms are present in the main chain of the polymers along with the other
elements like ‘H’,’O’,’N’, etc. then they are termed as organic polymers. Most of the
polymers are included in this class.

 Inorganic
o If the main chain of the polymers are formed by inorganic elements like
‘Si’,’P’,’S’,’N’, etc. and do not have any carbon atom in the main chain, they are
known as inorganic polymers. However, in the side chain carbon containing moiety
may be present. Examples of this class are polysiloxane, polyphosphorous, etc.

 Organometallic:-
o The polymers possess both carbon as well as metallic elements in their structure. They
are generally highly thermostable. These polymers are also called as metal containing
polymers. Examples are antimony containing polymers, bismuth containing polymers,
etc.