Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Chemists tend to consider the repeat unit as -[CH 2-CH 2]- since this polymer is made from the monomer ethylene (CH 2 =CH 2). More complex repeat units can occur in vinyl polymers-[CH 2-CHR] n-, if one hydrogen in the ethylene repeat unit is substituted by a larger fragment R. Polypropylene-[CH 2-CH(CH 3)] n - has the repeat unit -[CH 2-CH(CH 3)].
Polyvinyl chloride is formed in flat sheets in a variety of thicknesses and colors. As flat sheets, PVC is often expanded to create voids in the interior of the material, providing additional thickness without additional weight and minimal extra cost (see closed-cell PVC foamboard ).
Vinyl polymers are subject of several structural variations, which greatly expands the range of polymers and their applications. With the exception of polyethylene, vinyl polymers can arise from head-to-tail linking of monomers, head-to-head combined with tail-to-tail, or a mixture of those two patterns. Additionally the substituted carbon center in such polymers is stereogenic (a "chiral center")
Vinyl chloride is an organochloride with the formula H 2 C=CHCl. It is also called vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) or chloroethene. It is an important industrial chemical chiefly used to produce the polymer polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Vinyl chloride is a colourless flammable gas that has a sweet odor and is carcinogenic.
Polymers that are formed by free-radical mechanisms, such as polyvinyl chloride are usually atactic. [citation needed] Due to their random nature atactic polymers are usually amorphous. [citation needed] In hemi-isotactic macromolecules every other repeat unit has a random substituent. [citation needed]
In polymer chemistry, a structural unit is a building block of a polymer chain. It is the result of a monomer which has been polymerized into a long chain. There may be more than one structural unit in the repeat unit. When different monomers are polymerized, a copolymer is formed. It is a routine way of developing new properties for new materials.
A polymer which contains only a single type of repeat unit is known as a homopolymer, while a polymer containing two or more types of repeat units is known as a copolymer. [22] A terpolymer is a copolymer which contains three types of repeat units. [23] Polystyrene is composed only of styrene-based repeat units, and is classified as a homopolymer.
In polymer chemistry, radical polymerization (RP) is a method of polymerization by which a polymer forms by the successive addition of a radical to building blocks (repeat units). Radicals can be formed by a number of different mechanisms, usually involving separate initiator molecules .