Polymer Materials Types and Forms

The terms thermoplastic and thermoset refer to the processability of a particular polymer and the properties of the finished article. Thermoplastic polymers are mostly a linear or branched linkage of monomers containing many thousands of repeat units. All the commodity polymers and most of the engineering polymers are thermoplastic. 

Thermoplastic polymers can be homopolymers or copolymers where two or more different monomers are used. With copolymers, different arrangements of the monomers are possible (see also Chapter 2). 

Reciprocal array of repeat units (this occurs when two or more monomers react together to form a complex, which is then polymerised) 

Contains long sequences of one linkage joined onto another sequence with a different linkage. Di- and tri-blocks are possible 

Obtained by chemically reacting a second monomer/ polymer chain onto a pre-formed polymer 

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