What is the process called when two polymer chains are joined together?

What is the process called when two polymer chains are joined together?

It is sometimes possible, especially in the field of organic chemistry, to join small molecules together to form long chains. The term for the long chains is polymer and the process is called polymerization. Poly- means many, whereas -mer means unit. Many units are combined to form a new, single unit.

What is the joining of polymers called?

Polymerisation: how polymers are made. The joining up of a long chain of molecules is known as polymerisation. To keep things simple, let’s look at one kind of polymerisation called ‘addition polymerisation’. In addition polymerisation—you guessed it—monomers are simply added together in a repeating pattern.

What connects together to make polymers?

Monomers are atoms or small molecules that bond together to form more complex structures such as polymers. There are four main types of monomer, including sugars, amino acids, fatty acids, and nucleotides.

What type of bonding exists between adjacent polymer chains?

3.1 Polymer Structure. Polymers are held together by primary bonds (covalent bonds) and secondary bonds (van der Waals and hydrogen bonds). In covalent bonding there is a sharing of valence electrons (the s and p shells) to complete an octet (a group of eight electrons) around atoms.

What does cross linking do?

Crosslinking is the process of chemically joining two or more molecules by a covalent bond. Crosslinking reagents (or crosslinkers) are molecules that contain two or more reactive ends capable of chemically attaching to specific functional groups (primary amines, sulfhydryls, etc.) on proteins or other molecules.

What is the name of the process that joins small molecules?

polymerization, any process in which relatively small molecules, called monomers, combine chemically to produce a very large chainlike or network molecule, called a polymer. The monomer molecules may be all alike, or they may represent two, three, or more different compounds.

When monomers join together they form long chains?

monomers are small molecules with a variety of chemical properties that can be joined together in long chains, like beads on a string. two monomers joined together become a dimer, three joined together are a trimer, and so on. many monomers joined in a long chain is termed a polymer, meaning many units.

When monomers join together they form long chains called?

The small molecular units are called monomers (mono means one, or single), and they are linked together into long chains called polymers (poly means many, or multiple).

What process joins monomers and polymers?

Dehydration Synthesis. In dehydration synthesis, monomers combine with each other via covalent bonds to form polymers.

What is a polymer chain?

A carbon atom bonded to 2 hydrogen atoms can be considered a building block or unit of the polymeric chain. These units make up monomers, which are repeating units in the molecular chain structure. A series of monomers bonded together to form a molecular chain is known as a polymer.

What intermolecular forces are between polymer chains?

Polymer Chemistry: Intermolecular Forces

• Dispersion Forces.
• Dipole-Dipole Forces.
• Hydrogen Bonding.

How are the chains of a cross linked polymer linked?

A cross linked polymer is a polymer that has chains linked together by a network of covalent bonds. Cross links can be short or long, but in most of the polymers, these bonds are short. Thermosets and elastomers have cross links. The properties of cross linked polymers mainly depend on the degree of cross linking.

What makes a linear polymer a thermoplastic polymer?

A linear polymer is a thermoplastic polymer that consists of long-chain molecules. Here, the monomer units have end-to-end links, resembling beads in a necklace.

What are the repeating units of a polymer?

Polymers are the compounds consisting of small repeating units connecting together to form long-chain molecules. The repeating units or the building blocks of a polymer are monomers.

Why do cross linking polymers swell in liquid?

That is because cross-linking makes the polymer chemically set, and this reaction is irreversible. Furthermore, the solubility parameter of the cross-linking polymers varies with the cross-linking density. If a polymer has a low degree of cross-linking, it will tend to swell in the liquid.