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Macromolecular science is the study of the synthesis,
structure, processing, and properties of polymers.
These giant molecules are the basis of synthetic
materials including plastics, fibers, rubber, films,
paints, membranes, and adhesives.
Research is constantly expanding these applications
through the development of new high performance
polymers, e.g. for engineering composites, electronic,
optical, and biomedical uses. In addition, most
biological systems are composed of macromolecules:
proteins (e.g. silk, wool, tendons), carbohydrates (e.g.
cellulose) and nucleic acids (RNA and DNA) can all be
classified as polymers and are studied by the same
methods as are applied to synthetic polymers. |
