9/7/2014 Polymer science - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Polymer science
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Contents
1 Subdisciplines
2 History of polymer science
3 Nobel prizes related to polymer science
4 References
5 External links
Subdisciplines
This science comprises three main sub-disciplines:
Polymer chemistry or macromolecular chemistry is concerned with the chemical synthesis and
chemical properties of polymers.
Polymer physics is concerned with the bulk properties of polymer materials and engineering applications.
Polymer characterization is concerned with the analysis of chemical structure and morphology and the
determination of physical properties in relation to compositional and structural parameters.
History of polymer science
The earliest known work with polymers was the rubber industry in pre-Columbian Mexico. The Mesoamericans
knew how to combine latex of the rubber tree with the juice of the morning glory plant in different proportions to
get rubber with different properties for different products, such as bouncing balls, sandals, and rubber bands.
[1]
The first modern example of polymer science is Henri Braconnot's work in the 1830s. Braconnot, along with
Christian Schnbein and others, developed derivatives of the natural polymer cellulose, producing new, semi-
synthetic materials, such as celluloid and cellulose acetate. The term "polymer" was coined in 1833 by Jns
Jakob Berzelius, though Berzelius did little that would be considered polymer science in the modern sense. In
the 1840s, Friedrich Ludersdorf and Nathaniel Hayward independently discovered that adding sulfur to raw
natural rubber (polyisoprene) helped prevent the material from becoming sticky. In 1844 Charles Goodyear
received a U.S. patent for vulcanizing natural rubber with sulfur and heat. Thomas Hancock had received a
patent for the same process in the UK the year before. This process strengthened natural rubber and prevented
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9/7/2014 Polymer science - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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it from melting with heat without losing flexibility. This made practical products such as waterproofed articles
possible. It also facilitated practical manufacture of such rubberized materials. Vulcanized rubber represents the
first commercially successful product of polymer research. In 1884 Hilaire de Chardonnet started the first
artificial fiber plant based on regenerated cellulose, or viscose rayon, as a substitute for silk, but it was very
flammable.
[2]
In 1907 Leo Baekeland invented the first synthetic polymer, a thermosetting phenolformaldehyde
resin called Bakelite.
[3]
Despite significant advances in polymer synthesis, the molecular nature of polymers was not understood until the
work of Hermann Staudinger in 1922.
[4]
Prior to Staudinger's work, polymers were understood in terms of the
association theory or aggregate theory, which originated with Thomas Graham in 1861. Graham proposed that
cellulose and other polymers were colloids, aggregates of molecules having small molecular mass connected by
an unknown intermolecular force. Hermann Staudinger was the first to propose that polymers consisted of long
chains of atoms held together by covalent bonds. It took over a decade for Staudinger's work to gain wide
acceptance in the scientific community, work for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1953.
The World War II era marked the emergence of a strong commercial polymer industry. The limited or restricted
supply of natural materials such as silk and rubber necessitated the increased production of synthetic substitutes,
such as nylon
[5]
and synthetic rubber.
[6]
In the intervening years, the development of advanced polymers such as
Kevlar and Teflon have continued to fuel a strong and growing polymer industry.
The growth in industrial applications was mirrored by the establishment of strong academic programs and
research institute. In 1946, Herman Mark established the Polymer Research Institute at Brooklyn Polytechnic,
the first research facility in the United States dedicated to polymer research. Mark is also recognized as a
pioneer in establishing curriculum and pedagogy for the field of polymer science.
[7]
In 1950, the POLY division
of the American Chemical Society was formed, and has since grown to the second-largest division in this
association with nearly 8,000 members. Fred W. Billmeyer, Jr., a Professor of Analytical Chemistry had once
said that "although the scarcity of education in polymer science is slowly diminishing but it is still evident in many
areas. What is most unfortunate is that it appears to exist, not because of a lack of awareness but, rather, a lack
of interest."
[8]
Nobel prizes related to polymer science
2005 (Chemistry) Robert Grubbs, Richard Schrock, Yves Chauvin for olefin metathesis.
2002 (Chemistry) John Bennett Fenn, Koichi Tanaka, and Kurt Wthrich for the development of methods for
identification and structure analyses of biological macromolecules.
2000 (Chemistry) Alan G. MacDiarmid, Alan J. Heeger, and Hideki Shirakawa for work on conductive
polymers, contributing to the advent of molecular electronics.
1991 (Physics) Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for developing a generalized theory of phase transitions with particular
applications to describing ordering and phase transitions in polymers.
1974 (Chemistry) Paul J. Flory for contributions to theoretical polymer chemistry.
1963 (Chemistry) Giulio Natta and Karl Ziegler for contributions in polymer synthesis. (Ziegler-Natta catalysis).
1953 (Chemistry) Hermann Staudinger for contributions to the understanding of macromolecular chemistry.
References
9/7/2014 Polymer science - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymer_science 3/4
1. ^ "A few ancient (http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/6066) Mesoamerican rubber balls have been found,
the oldest dating back to 1600 B.C."
2. ^ plastiquarian (http://www.plastiquarian.com/top.htm)
3. ^ "Bakelite: The World's First Synthetic Plastic"
(http://portal.acs.org/portal/PublicWebSite/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/bakelite/index.htm). National
Historic Chemical Landmarks. American Chemical Society. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
4. ^ "Hermann Staudinger: Foundation of Polymer Science"
(http://portal.acs.org/portal/PublicWebSite/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/staudingerpolymerscience/inde
x.htm). National Historic Chemical Landmarks. American Chemical Society. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
5. ^ "Foundation of Polymer Science: Wallace Carothers and the Development of Nylon"
(http://portal.acs.org/portal/PublicWebSite/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/carotherspolymers/index.htm).
National Historic Chemical Landmarks. American Chemical Society. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
6. ^ "U.S. Synthetic Rubber Program"
(http://portal.acs.org/portal/PublicWebSite/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/syntheticrubber/index.htm).
National Historic Chemical Landmarks. American Chemical Society. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
7. ^ "Herman Mark and the Polymer Research Institute"
(http://portal.acs.org/portal/PublicWebSite/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/polymerresearchinstitute/index
.htm). National Historic Chemical Landmarks. American Chemical Society. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
8. ^ Fred W. Billmeyer, Jr., (1984), Third Edition, Textbook of Polymer Science, A Wiley-Interscience
Publication. preface to the second edition
Asua, Jos M. (August 2007). Polymer Reaction Engineering (http://books.google.com/books?
id=0vbdI6OzSfQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Polymer+Reaction+Engineering&hl=en&ei=7_4zTOSbH
8X7lwerl5y-
Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false)
(Hardcover - 392 pages). Wiley, John & Sons. ISBN 978-1-4051-4442-1.
External links
List of scholarly journals pertaining to polymer science
(http://www.chemseer.com/journals/journals_polymer.shtml)
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