Biopolymers ( also called renewable polymers ) are produced from biomass for use in the packaging industry.

In contrast, the feedstocks for polymers derived from petrochemicals will eventually run out.

Plastics are made from synthetic carbon polymers, often with oxygen and nitrogen atoms included at regular intervals in the main polymer chain.

Bulk polymers derived from ethylene and propylene are often prepared via Ziegler-Natta catalysis.

Proteins are condensation polymers made from amino acid monomers.

Carbohydrates are also condensation polymers made from sugar monomers such as glucose and galactose.

Cell walls of the epidermis and endodermis may also contain suberin or cutin, two polyester-like polymers that protect the cell from herbivores.

Electrodes can be made from any sufficiently conductive materials, such as metals, semiconductors, graphite, and even conductive polymers.

Isophorone, derived from acetone, is an unsaturated, unsymmetrical ketone that is the precursor to other polymers.

MEMS devices can be made from polymers by processes such as injection molding, embossing or stereolithography and are especially well suited to microfluidic applications such as disposable blood testing cartridges.

The crystallinity of polymers is characterized by their degree of crystallinity, ranging from zero for a completely non-crystalline polymer to one for a theoretical completely crystalline polymer.

The term melting point, when applied to polymers, suggests not a solid-liquid phase transition but a transition from a crystalline or semi-crystalline phase to a solid amorphous phase.

A parameter of particular interest in synthetic polymer manufacturing is the glass transition temperature ( T < sub > g </ sub >), which describes the temperature at which amorphous polymers undergo a transition from a rubbery, viscous amorphous liquid, to a brittle, glassy amorphous solid.

Most proteins consist of linear polymers built from series of up to 20 different-α-amino acids.

Peptides ( from the Greek πεπτός, " digested " from πέσσειν " to digest ") are short polymers of amino acid monomers linked by peptide bonds, the covalent chemical bonds formed between two molecules when the carboxyl group of one molecule reacts with the amino group of the other molecule.

Such methods are used primarily for the fabrication of materials ( typically a metal oxide ) starting from a chemical solution which acts as the precursor for an integrated network ( or gel ) of either discrete nanoparticles or network polymers.

Between its melting and boiling temperatures, octasulfur changes its allotrope again, turning from β-octasulfur to γ-sulfur, again accompanied by a lower density but increased viscosity due to the formation of polymers.

German Karl Ziegler, for his discovery of first titanium-based catalysts, and Italian Giulio Natta, for using them to prepare stereo regular polymers from propylene, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1963.

Materials required for advancing technology ( e. g., photoresists and other polymers and industrial chemicals ) are derived from natural resources such as petroleum and so are affected by the cost and supply of these resources.

The first type, riot shields, are used for riot control and can be made from metal or polymers such as polycarbonate Lexan or Makrolon or boPET Mylar.

Electrolyte solutions can also result from the dissolution of some biological ( e. g., DNA, polypeptides ) and synthetic polymers ( e. g., polystyrene sulfonate ), termed polyelectrolytes, which contain charged functional groups.

This allows quick and easy fitting and provides a snug and comfortable diaper fit that will neither bind nor wad on the infant … as a result of this snugger fit obtained because of this fold configuration, the diaper is less likely to leak or, in other words, its containment characteristics are greatly enhanced .” Further developments in diaper design were made, such as the introduction of refastenable tapes, the " hourglass shape " so as to reduce bulk at the crotch area, and the 1984 introduction of super-absorbent material from polymers known as sodium polyacrylate that were originally developed in 1966.

It deals with the design and development of equipment and processes for the manufacturing of products such as food, feed, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, chemicals, and polymers and paper from biological materials.

The resulting polymers, called polyacetylenes ( which do not contain alkyne units ) are conjugated and can exhibit semiconducting properties.

Many biological molecules are polymers: in this terminology, monomers are relatively small micromolecules that are linked together to create large macromolecules, which are known as polymers.

There are three main classes of biopolymers based on the differing monomeric units used and the structure of the biopolymer formed: polynucleotides, which are long polymers composed of 13 or more nucleotide monomers ; polypeptides, which are short polymers of amino acids ; and polysaccharides, which are often linear bonded polymeric carbohydrate structures.

The backbones of these polymers are identical to peptides, which offer them biofunctionality.

* Steric stabilization consists in covering the particles in polymers which prevents the particle to get close in the range of attractive forces.

Condensation polymers are any kind of polymers formed through a condensation reaction -- where molecules join together -- losing small molecules as by-products such as water or methanol, as opposed to addition polymers which involve the reaction of unsaturated monomers.

Linear polymers are created using monomers with two reactive end groups and monomers with more than two end groups give three dimensional polymers which are crosslinked.

Polyether generally refers to polymers which contain the ether functional group in their main chain.

* Viscosity modification-emulgents like acacia and tragacanth, which are hydrocolloids, as well as PEG ( or polyethylene glycol ), glycerine, and other polymers like CMC ( carboxymethylcellulose ), all increase the viscosity of the medium, which helps create and maintain the suspension of globules of dispersed phase

The most common natural monomer is glucose, which is linked by glycosidic bonds into polymers such as cellulose and starch, and is over 77 % of the mass of all plant matter.

Most often the term monomer refers to the organic molecules which form synthetic polymers, such as, for example, vinyl chloride, which is used to produce the polymer polyvinyl chloride ( PVC ).

Plastics are really the final product, created after one or more polymers or additives have been added to a resin during processing, which is then shaped into a final form.

:* Polymer properties, synthesis, and characterization, for a specialized understanding of how polymers behave, how they are made, and how they are characterized ; exciting applications of polymers include liquid crystal displays ( LCDs, the displays found in most cell phones, cameras, and iPods ), novel photovoltaic devices based on semiconductor polymers ( which, unlike the traditional silicon solar panels, are flexible and cheap to manufacture, albeit with lower efficiency ), and membranes for room-temperature fuel cells ( as proton exchange membranes ) and filtration systems in the environmental and biomedical fields

* Chemical sciences-ORNL conducts both fundamental and applied research in a number of areas, including catalysis, surface science and interfacial chemistry ; molecular transformations and fuel chemistry ; heavy element chemistry and radioactive materials characterization ; aqueous solution chemistry and geochemistry ; mass spectrometry and laser spectroscopy ; separations chemistry ; materials chemistry including synthesis and characterization of polymers and other soft materials ; chemical biosciences ; and neutron science.

The biggest improvements to soft lens polymers have been increasing oxygen permeability, lens wetability, and overall comfort.

Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, who has been called the " founding father of soft matter ," received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1991 for discovering that the order parameter from simple thermodynamic systems can be applied to the more complex cases found in soft matter, in particular, to the behaviors of liquid crystals and polymers.

* Studies of “ soft " materials — including synthesis of organic molecules, macromolecules, polymers and their assemblies, with access to functional systems, photoactive, organic-inorganic hybrid and porous materials.

Application to soft solids: thermoplastic polymers in the vicinity of their melting temperature, fresh concrete ( neglecting its aging ), numerous metals at a temperature close to their melting point.

The polycarbonate usually has one of two types of coating to resist abrasion: a soft coating that heals after being scratched ( such as elastomeric carbon-based polymers ) or a hard coating that prevents scratching ( such as silicon-based polymers )

Matrix-assisted laser desorption / ionization ( MALDI ) is a soft ionization technique used in mass spectrometry, allowing the analysis of biomolecules ( biopolymers such as DNA, proteins, peptides and sugars ) and large organic molecules ( such as polymers, dendrimers and other macromolecules ), which tend to be fragile and fragment when ionized by more conventional ionization methods.

Walker in the mid-1960s expanded on traditional coal waterjet cutting to determine ideal nozzle shape for high-pressure waterjet cutting of stone, and Norman Franz in the late 1960s focused on waterjet cutting of soft materials by dissolving long chain polymers in the water to improve the cohesiveness of the jet stream.