BRAINCAKEAddition Polymerisation
Addition polymerisation joins many small alkene molecules, called monomers, into one very long chain molecule, a polymer. In each monomer the C=C double bond opens (the π bond breaks) and the carbon atoms form new single bonds to neighbouring monomers.
n CH2=CH2 → -[CH2-CH2]-n
Here n, the number of monomers joined, is very large (often thousands). The polymer is named by putting the monomer name in brackets after 'poly': ethene gives poly(ethene).
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Key terms in this lesson
- atom economy
- The percentage of the total mass of reactants that ends up as the desired product in a reaction.
More in Alkenes
- Nucleophile
- Electrophilic Addition Mechanism
- Electrophilic Addition of Hydrogen Halides
- Unsymmetrical Molecules
- Identifying the Monomer
- Identifying the Repeating Group
- Polymer Waste
- Recycling
All 19 lessons in Alkenes · All Edexcel AS-level Chemistry topics