Copolymers of Naturally Occurring Macromolecules

Abstract

The growth of polymer chemistry has led to the development of new materials in direct competition with natural materials, many of which have been in use since earliest times. This has encouraged the chemist to look more critically at natural macromolecules to learn more of the underlying structure and its relation to the properties exhibited by the macromolecule. By virtue of these studies, chemical modifications have been devised to give natural macromolecules more desirable properties and the application of synthetic macromolecules forms an important area of such chemical modification. It may be said that the work of the polymer chemist has given a new lease on life to many natural macromolecules by providing competition in the first instance, and the means to combat this competition by improving the natural macromolecule with a synthetic addition. It is desirable to retain the essential properties of a natural substrate and improve its performance by incorporating specific properties of a synthetic polymer.