Condensation Polymers
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A condensation polymer can be defined as a polymer in which the structural unit contains fewer atoms than the monomer of monomers from which the polymer is derived. There must be an elimination of a byproduct, usually water. Nylon is one of the most common condensation polymers. It is manufactured by reacting di-amines with carboxyl derivatives.
A large Number of important and useful polymeric materials are not formed by chain-growth processes involving reactive species such as radicals, but proceed instead by conventional functional group transformations of polyfunctional reactants. These polymerizations often occur with a loss of a small byproduct, such as water, and generally combine two different components in an altering structure. The polyester Dacron and the polyamide Nylon 66, are two examples of synthetic condensation polymers, also known as step-growth polymers. In contrast to chain-growth polymers, most of which grow by carbon-carbon bond formation, step-growth polymers generally grow by carbon-heteroatom bond formation. Although polymers of this kind might be considered to be alternating copolymers, the repeating monomeric unit is usually defined as a combined moiety.
Condensation polymers form more slowly than addition polymers, often requiring heat, and the are generally lower in molecular weight...