The Inception of Modern Polymer Science: Control of Molecular Structure and Function for Designer Polymers

Polymers are essential building blocks of both biological life and artificial everyday objects (Figure 1). Every polymer molecule consists of long chains of repeating units (mers) linked together either linearly or within a complex architecture. Building blocks may be nucleotides in DNA, aminoacids in proteins, or petroleum-based small molecules, such as ethylene, propylene or styrene in the case of synthetic polymers. Hermann Staudinger proposed almost exactly hundred years ago, that polymers are covalently bonded chain-like molecules. [1] To celebrate this discovery the year 2020 has been named the year of polymer science