Structure and Properties

Polymeric materials are now almost exclusively manufactured synthetically from organic compounds (monomers) by various processes, such as polymerization, polycondensation, or polyaddition. The monomers are linked together to form macromolecules which are the characteristic feature of the microstructure of polymeric materials (HERMANN STAUDINGER, 1881–1965). Chemical composition, structure, and morphology are parameters which have a close relationship with the macroscopic properties of these materials. Therefore, it will be helpful to have a fundamental understanding of the chemistry of these materials to briefly illuminate some of the most important structure-property relationships. For an in-depth study, the reader is referred to [1.1] and to other review works [2.1 to 2.5].