#orgobundren

materialsscienceandengineering:

Above are listed many common polymers, the basic type of polymerization to produce them, and some of their uses. 

Inaddition polymerization, polymers are formed through the addition of monomers, without any byproducts. There are many different types of addition polymerizations, including free-radical and ionic.

Incondensation polymerization, when the monomers join together, byproducts are produced, such as water or hydrochloric acid. Condensation polymerization is a form of step-growth polymerization.

Copolymerization is when two or more different monomers join together to form a polymer. Any type of polymerization has the potential to produce a copolymer, as long as two different monomers are used.

Source.

#it’s a nice clean way to think about it #but it’s also important to realize that many polymerizations are a real pain to classify because they meet the criteria of more than one la #some of the labels we use today were developed in the 40’s and 50’s and though ‘traditional’ they don’t paint a true picture of what’s goin (via@orgobundren)

An important point. Not all polymers will fall into neat categories.