Heteropolymer

A heteropolymer is a type of polymer that is made of two or more different types of monomers. If two monomers are involved in the polymerization process, the end product is called a copolymer. Copolymer is a type of heteropolymer. There are several types of copolymers.

· Alternating Copolymers

· Random Copolymers

· Block Copolymers

· Graft Copolymers

There are some polymers that are found in biological systems are heteropolymers. For example, DNA or any other polynucleotides are considered as heteropolymers. Polynucleotides are formed from different types of nucleotides. These nucleotides differ from each other according to the nitrogenous base that they are composed of. Proteins are also heteropolymers. Proteins are made of different types of amino acids.

Figure 2: A Polynucleotide

Examples of Heteropolymers

There are a number of examples for heteropolymers. Few are given below.

· SBS

SBS is a heteropolymer made from styrene monomers and buta-1,3-diene monomers. It is a block copolymer.

· Polycarbonate

Polycarbonate is a heteropolymer produced from the polymerization between bisphenol A and phosgene.

Similarities Between Homopolymer and Heteropolymer

· Homopolymer and heteropolymer are polymer materials.

· Both are made out of small molecules called monomers.

· Both types show linear polymer structures and branched structures.

· There are biomolecules that can be found as homopolymers and some other biomolecules are heteropolymers.