Inorganic And Organic Polymers

Inorganic And Organic Polymers

Inorganic polymers

Inorganic polymers are polymers with a skeletal structure that does not include carbon atoms.^[1] Polymers containing inorganic and organic components are named hybrid polymers.^[2] One of the best known examples is polydimethylsiloxane, otherwise known commonly as silicone rubber. It has a repeat unit based on silicon and oxygen:

—[O-Si(CH₃)₂]_n—

Silicon and oxygen also occur widely in a range of inorganic minerals, including silica, mica and feldspar with other elements.

The inorganic sulfur-nitrogen polymer polythiazyl, (SN)_x, is, highly unusual, a metallic superconducting polymer below 0.26 K.^[3]

Inorganic polymers with tunable or responsive properties are called smart inorganic polymers. A special class of inorganic polymers are geopolymers which my be anthropogenic or naturally occurring.

• Homochain polymers with one kind of atom in the main chain:
  • Silicon-silicon: polysilanes; precursors to fibrous silicon carbide
  • Germanium-germanium: polygermanes
  • Tin-tin: polystannanes
• Heterochain polymers with more than one type of atom in the main chain, mostly two types of atoms alternate along the main chain, ranked by atomic weight of in-chain elements:

In short,all the covalent macromolecules which do not have carbon in their backbones are called inorganic polymers.They are formed by the combination of inorganic species.Example:halides and oxides of phosphates,boron nitrides,silicones,ettc.

Organic polymers