News tagged with polymer
Researchers develop disposable paper-based touch pads
(Phys.org) -- Today, electronic touch pads are widely found on laptops, tablets, and other computing devices. Less common uses, but gaining in popularity, are book covers and food labels. These and other low-tech ...
Scientists rediscover self-healing silicone mechanism from the 1950s
(PhysOrg.com) -- Research in self-healing organic polymers has grown recently, but one simple self-healing mechanism from more than 60 years ago has been nearly forgotten until now. Using this mechanism, which ...
Fabrication of new elastic 'soft capsule' using nano-sized flakes
A research group headed by MANA Scientist Dr. Qingmin Ji of the National Institute for Materials Science (Japan), in joint study with Prof. Frank Caruso of the University of Melbourne, developed a new elastic ...
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
May 30, 2012 |
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Researchers uncover how plant skin is assembled
(Phys.org) -- For the first time, scientists have identified how a plant's skin is assembled.
May 22, 2012 |
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'Power Felt' uses body heat to generate electricity
(PhysOrg.com) -- Among the many applications of flexible thermoelectric materials is a wristwatch powered by the temperature difference between the human body and the surrounding environment. But if you wanted ...
Researchers develop way to strengthen proteins with polymers
Proteins are widely used as drugs insulin for diabetics is the best known example and as reagents in research laboratories, but they react poorly to fluctuations in temperature and are known to degrade in storage.
May 21, 2012 |
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Motorized roller could mass-produce graphene-based devices
(PhysOrg.com) -- Finding a simple, scalable way to pattern graphene for future electronics applications is one of the biggest challenges facing graphene researchers. While lithography has been widely used ...
Organic electronic devices could be printed on ordinary CDs and DVDs
(PhysOrg.com) -- Organic electronics those that involve carbon-based conductors instead of the traditional copper or silicon have a number of advantages over metal electronics, including their ...
Stretchable graphene transistors overcome limitations of other materials
(PhysOrg.com) -- When it comes to fabricating stretchable, transparent electronics, finding a material to make transistors from has been a significant challenge for researchers. They've explored a variety ...
Superhard carbon material could crack diamond
(PhysOrg.com) -- By applying extreme pressure to compress and flatten carbon nanotubes, scientists have discovered that they can create a new carbon polymer that simulations show is hard enough to crack diamond. ...
Amazon fungi found that eat polyurethane, even without oxygen
(PhysOrg.com) -- Until now polyurethane has been considered non-biodegradable, but a group of students from Yale University in the US has found fungi that will not only eat and digest it, they will do so even in the absence ...
Printed CNT transistor circuits may lead to cheaper OLED displays
(PhysOrg.com) -- While flexible OLED displays have begun appearing in some cell phones, the technology is still too expensive to be widely used in consumer electronics. In one of the latest attempts to enable ...
Ink with tin nanoparticles could print future circuit boards
(PhysOrg.com) -- Almost all electronic devices contain printed circuit boards, which are patterned with an intricate copper design that guides electricity to make the devices functional. In a new study, researchers ...
NEC goes ultra-thin with 0.3mm-thick batteries
(PhysOrg.com) -- NEC, which has been working on what is called "organic radical battery" (ORB) technology for some years, has announced its latest ORB breakthrough, the 0.3mm thick ORB. According to Geek.co ...
New ultra-thin electronic films have greater capacity
(Phys.org) -- The development of a new combination of polymers associating sugars with oil-based macromolecules makes it possible to design ultra-thin films capable of self-organization with a 5-nanometer ...
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
May 14, 2012 |
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Polymer
A polymer (from Greek πολύ-ς /po΄li-s/ much, many and μέρος /΄meros/ part) is a large molecule (macromolecule) composed of repeating structural units typically connected by covalent chemical bonds. While polymer in popular usage suggests plastic, the term actually refers to a large class of natural and synthetic materials with a variety of properties.
Due to the extraordinary range of properties accessible in polymeric materials , they have come to play an essential and ubiquitous role in everyday life - from plastics and elastomers on the one hand to natural biopolymers such as DNA and proteins that are essential for life on the other. A simple example is polyethylene, whose repeating unit is based on ethylene (IUPAC name ethene) monomer. Most commonly, as in this example, the continuously linked backbone of a polymer consists mainly of carbon atoms. However, other structures do exist; for example, elements such as silicon form familiar materials such as silicones, examples being silly putty and waterproof plumbing sealant. The backbone of DNA is in fact based on a phosphodiester bond, and repeating units of polysaccharides (e.g. cellulose) are joined together by glycosidic bonds via oxygen atoms.
Natural polymeric materials such as shellac, amber, and natural rubber have been in use for centuries. Biopolymers such as proteins and nucleic acids play crucial roles in biological processes. A variety of other natural polymers exist, such as cellulose, which is the main constituent of wood and paper.
The list of synthetic polymers includes synthetic rubber, Bakelite, neoprene, nylon, PVC, polystyrene, polyacrylonitrile, PVB, silicone, and many more.
Polymers are studied in the fields of polymer chemistry, polymer physics, and polymer science.
For more information about Polymer, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.