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Trends in Structural Polymer Science in Industry
Author(s) -
Warzelhan Volker
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
polymers for advanced technologies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.61
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1099-1581
pISSN - 1042-7147
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1581(199704)8:4<210::aid-pat629>3.0.co;2-5
Subject(s) - polymer , commercialization , materials science , monomer , polymer science , nanotechnology , composite material , business , marketing
Plastics production has grown rapidly in the past 30 years. The versatility of plastics which is not exceeded by any other class of materials, guarantees that polymers will continue to be very important in the future. However, at present a distinct change is taking place in polymer research and development. While in the pioneering days of plastics new polymer properties were determined by the choice of suitable monomers, today the commercialization of polymers from new monomers is restricted to a few specialities with a rather modest production volume. On the other hand, the number of new polymers derived from old monomers is increasing very rapidly. The development of highly selective catalysts and advances in reactor technology have provided the means for producing new tailor‐made polymers. The same is true regarding new polymer blends and alloys based on old polymers: blending immiscible polymers yields materials with property profiles superior to the features of the individual components. Using selected examples, this paper will discuss trends, possibilities and challenges for structural polymer research in industry. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.