ring-opening polymerisation

Ring-opening polymerisation is a fascinating process in polymer chemistry that opens cyclic monomers by reducing ring strain and converts them into linear polymers. This happens through a chain reaction in which the monomers line up one after another, forming a long-chain structure.

The discovery of this process dates back to 1938, when the chemist Paul Schlack found that polyamides can be produced from lactam by ring-opening polymerisation. This discovery opened up completely new possibilities for the production of polymers with tailor-made properties and has since found numerous applications in various fields, from the textile industry to medicine.