Copolymere

Copolymere, or copolymer in English, is a polymer formed from two or more different monomer species. This allows tuning of physical and chemical properties beyond those of a homopolymer, including stiffness, toughness, glass transition temperature, solubility, and chemical resistance.

Copolymers are commonly classified by the arrangement of their monomer units. Random copolymers have monomer units distributed statistically along the chain. Alternating copolymers feature a regular alternation of the two monomers. Block copolymers consist of contiguous blocks of one monomer followed by blocks of another, and graft copolymers have side chains of one polymer grafted onto a backbone of another. Each architecture leads to different phase behavior and mechanical properties, such as improved toughness, impact resistance, or self-assembly into nano-structures.

The synthesis of copolymers is achieved by copolymerization of two (or more) monomers. Free-radical polymerization is widely used for vinyl monomers, but living or controlled polymerization methods (RAFT, ATRP, or anionic polymerization) enable more precise control over molecular weight, composition, and architecture.

Applications span many industries. Random and block copolymers are common in plastics, adhesives, and elastomers. ABS, styrene-butadiene rubber, and many specialty polymers exploit copolymer concepts to achieve desirable properties. In biomedicine and electronics, copolymers serve as lightweight, tunable materials and as matrices for drug delivery or dielectric components.