Polymers as Materials

Abstract

Polymers as materials appear in myriad forms. Everyone is familiar with floor coverings made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and with Plexiglas windows (polymethyl methacrylate), and the latter’s particularly successful version: the roof-top of the Munich Olympic Stadium. Many are equally familiar with the strengthening of polymers by compounding them with glass fiber. Polymers are also increasingly being used in medical applications, for instance as bone and organ prostheses. One can easily imagine that these must meet completely different requirements than, for example, an ordinary PVC tube in a chemical laboratory. These few examples amply demonstrate how diversified and partially contradictory the requirements for a material in its specific application are, and that an ideal material for all applications cannot exist.