Monomers Building Blocks for Polymer Manufacture

What is a monomer Any material that is able to be polymerized (that is, can form macromolecules) possesses a unique chemical structure, which is termed polyfunctionality. The simplest case—representing a functionality of two—appears as the covalent double bond, resulting from electron sharing. The paraffins (like methane and its homologs) are imable to polymerize—due 

Ethylene, on the other hand, represents the simplest and most commonly used monomer, essentially due to the existence of an aliphatic double bond that starts the polymeric chain. 

The various mechanisms of polymerization will be described later. If the monomer contains two double bonds (as in butadiene and other dienes) the final polymer can remain rmsaturated, as each unit (mer) includes one double bond. 

Ethylene represents a whole family of monomers, called vinyls H H 

Another mode of bifunctionality exists in cyclic monomers, where opening of the ring is the starting stage of polymerization. The most common monomer in this group is ethylene oxide  

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