Abstract
A polymer may be defined as a large molecule comprised of repeating structural units joined by covalent bonds. (The word is derived from the Greek: poly — many, meros — part.) In this context, a large molecule is commonly arbitrarily regarded either as one having a molecular weight of at least 1000 or as one containing 100 structural units or more. By a structural unit is meant a relatively simple group of atoms joined by covalent bonds in a specific spatial arrangement. Since covalent bonds also connect the structural units to one another, polymers are distinguished from those solids and liquids wherein repeating units (ions, atoms or molecules) are held together by ionic bonds, metallic bonds, hydrogen bonds, dipole interactions or van der Waals forces.
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© 1973 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Saunders, K.J. (1973). Basic Concepts. In: Organic Polymer Chemistry. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2504-0_1
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