Skip to main content
Knowledge4Policy
Knowledge for policy
Supporting policy with scientific evidence

We mobilise people and resources to create, curate, make sense of and use knowledge to inform policymaking across Europe.

  • Glossary item | Last updated: 12 Apr 2024
Polymer
Bioeconomy Knowledge Centre

Substance composed of macromolecules.

Vert, M., Y. Doi, et al. (IUPAC Polymer Division) 2012, 'Terminology for biorelated polymers and applications (IUPAC Recommendations 2012)', Pure Applied Chemistry 84 (2), pp. 377-410.

Source category: Scientific & Technical Literature

Any of a class of natural or synthetic substances composed of very large molecules, called macromolecules, that are multiples of simpler chemical units called monomers. Polymers make up many of the materials in living organisms, including, for example, proteins, cellulose, and nucleic acids. Moreover, they constitute the basis of such minerals as diamond, quartz, and feldspar and such man-made materials as concrete, glass, paper, plastics, and rubbers.

Encyclopedia Britannica, Accessed 12 April 2024

Source category: Dictionaries