Although natural polymers play a crucial role in plant and animal life, semisynthetic polymers have been in use since the beginning of the nineteenth century. Today, synthetic polymers have emerged as important substitutes and find use in several application areas.

Recent advances in the field of polymer chemistry have made the production of polymers, with control over their structure, composition, and properties, a possibility. This control can be exercised up to nanoscale dimensions.

Several techniques for preparing polymeric nanostructures, including nanoparticles, nanowires, nanofibres, nanotubes, and various nanocomposites, have emerged. You can produce customized polymer nanostructures and control their behavior by selecting an appropriate technique for synthesis.

This ReferencePoint describes various types of polymers and their structures. It explains the reaction mechanisms used to produce the polymers. It also describes the techniques used for synthesizing polymeric nanoparticles and one- and two-dimensional polymer nanostructures.