| Abstract from DBPedia | A polymer (/ˈpɒlɪmər/; Greek poly-, "many" + -mer, "part")is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic and natural polymers play essential and ubiquitous roles in everyday life. Polymers range from familiar synthetic plastics such as polystyrene to natural biopolymers such as DNA and proteins that are fundamental to biological structure and function. Polymers, both natural and synthetic, are created via polymerization of many small molecules, known as monomers. Their consequently large molecular mass, relative to small molecule compounds, produces unique physical properties including toughness, high elasticity, viscoelasticity, and a tendency to form amorphous and semicrystalline structures rather than crystals. The term "polymer" derives from the Greek word πολύς (polus, meaning "many, much") and μέρος (meros, meaning "part"). The term was coined in 1833 by Jöns Jacob Berzelius, though with a definition distinct from the modern IUPAC definition. The modern concept of polymers as covalently bonded macromolecular structures was proposed in 1920 by Hermann Staudinger, who spent the next decade finding experimental evidence for this hypothesis. Polymers are studied in the fields of polymer science (which includes polymer chemistry and polymer physics), biophysics and materials science and engineering. Historically, products arising from the linkage of repeating units by covalent chemical bonds have been the primary focus of polymer science. An emerging important area now focuses on supramolecular polymers formed by non-covalent links. Polyisoprene of latex rubber is an example of a natural polymer, and the polystyrene of styrofoam is an example of a synthetic polymer. In biological contexts, essentially all biological macromolecules—i.e., proteins (polyamides), nucleic acids (polynucleotides), and polysaccharides—are purely polymeric, or are composed in large part of polymeric components.重合体（じゅうごうたい）またはポリマー（英: polymer）とは、複数のモノマー（単量体）が重合する（結合して鎖状や網状になる）ことによってできた化合物のこと。このため、一般的には高分子の有機化合物である。現在では、高分子と同義で用いられることが多くなっている。ポリマー（polymer）の poly- は接頭語で「たくさん」を意味する。 2種類以上の単量体からなる重合体のことを特に共重合体と言う。 身近なものとしては、繊維に用いられるナイロン、ポリ袋のポリエチレンなどの合成樹脂がある。また、生体内のタンパク質は、アミノ酸の重合体である。 (Source: http://dbpedia.org/resource/Polymer) |
