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copolymer

copolymer

1 7.9
A large molecule made from two different small units joined together, often used in plastics
  • noun
  • /ˈkoʊˌpɒlɪmər/
  • Specialized
: copolímero
  • Dr. Strominger's team created a number of new copolymers that have specific properties for industrial applications.
  • copolymer composition
  • starch-based copolymer
  • olefin copolymer

Examples

  • A variety of copolymers and terpolymers containing NBIAH have been synthesized.

    Academic text (2001)
  • The alternating NB-MA copolymers tend to provide good lithographic performance for this reason.

    Academic text (2001)
  • You can mix them, make a copolymer, A copolymer mix in all proportions.

  • The influence of the copolymer composition on its dissolution rate is shown in Figures 5, 16, and 17.

    Academic text (2001)
  • This is all my black and white delrin, my acetyl copolymer, oh so pretty.

  • Andreas Lendlein, managing director of the company, described it as a multiblock copolymer.

    Academic text (2002)
  • Cyclic olefin copolymer, which has high temperature stability and good optical properties, is being used more in MEMS applications.

    Academic text (2005)
  • They've synthesized block copolymers that self-assemble into the smallest dots in the world.

    Blog text (3)
  • Carr and his colleagues made a starch-polyacrylonitrile graft copolymer, a precursor of Super Slurper, in about 6 minutes.

    Academic text (1994)
  • Uni-Star now produces 20,000 pounds of starch-graft copolymers per week and sells them for loosefill.

    Academic text (1996)

Synonyms

polymer
vscopolymer
  • Specialized
36 6.3

A very large molecule made of many small repeated parts, like plastics or proteins

is formed from two or more different monomers chemically bonded together

How Complex

terpolymer
  • Specialized
8.8
copolymer
  • Specialized
1 7.9
homopolymer
  • Specialized
1 9.0

Surface Forms

copolymer singular
copolymers plural

Morphology

copolymer = polymer (semi-transparent) = co + polymer

Morphologically clear as 'co-' + 'polymer', but the precise technical meaning ('made from two or more different monomers') requires domain-specific chemistry knowledge.

Etymology

Copolymer starts with co- meaning 'together' and uses poly- meaning 'many', while polymer means 'many parts joined'. So a copolymer is a polymer made by joining two or more different small building blocks called 'monomers', which is why it can combine properties from its different parts.