Abstract:
Polymers play an important role in our day-to-day life.
In Greek, poly means “many” and mer means “parts”.
Polysaccharides, proteins and nucleic acids are the main
bio-polymers/macromolecules. A large number of
industries (e.g., packaging, textile, automobile, paper etc.)
are based on synthetic polymers such as polyethylene
(PE), poly(vinylchloride) (PVC), polyesters, nylon, etc.,
and natural polymers such as rubber, cellulose, etc.
Joseph Priestly discovered “natural rubber”, a natural
polymer derived from the monomer 1,3-cis-isoprene.
Bakelite was the 1st synthetic polymer prepared by Leo
Baekeland in 1907 from phenol and HCHO