Polymers Design & Production

Polymers Design & Production

Polymers are large molecules made by bonding (chemically linking) a series of building blocks. Polymers are materials made of long, repeating chains of molecules and touch almost every aspect of modern life. Many inorganic polymers also are found in nature, including diamond and graphite. Both are composed of carbon. In diamond, carbon atoms are linked in a three-dimensional network that gives the material its hardness.  

The polymer production process is quite interesting as it involves the bonding or joining of small molecules called monomers. The chemical reaction process that joins these monomers together is called polymerization.

Our experts design and synthesize polymers that vary in hardness, flexibility, softening temperature, solubility in water, and biodegradability.

Besides producing new kinds of polymeric materials, we are concerned with developing special catalysts that are required by the large-scale industrial synthesis of commercial polymers. Without such catalysts, the polymerization process would be very slow in certain cases.