Introduction to polymers: Classification, structure, conformation, PDI, molecular weight distribution. Synthesis: Cationic, anionic, radical, metal-catalyzed polymerization. Physical properties: Viscosity and intrinsic viscosity, Osmosis, Light scattering for Rg and Rh.  Ideal and real chain models, simple scaling ideas, end-to-end distances and Rg of ideal chains, excluded volume interactions, dilute, semi-dilute, concentrated regimes. polyelectrolytes, Manning condensation.

Proteins, DNA, RNA, Polysaccharides and other biopolymers, properties and differences from other polymers.

Recent trends: self-healing polymers, vitrimers, supramolecular polymers, block copolymers.

Inorganic polymers such as polyphosphazenes, polysiloxanes, and Polysilanes.

1. M. Rubinstein and R. Colby, Polymer Physics, Oxford University Press, 2004.

2. J. R. C. van der Maarel, Introduction to Biopolymer Physics,  World Scientific, 2007.

3. I. Teraoka, Polymer Solutions: an Introduction to Physical Properties, Wiley, 2002.

4. Odian, Principles of Polymerization, 4th Edition, Wiley-Interscience, 2004.

5. J. E. Mark, H. R. Allcock and R. West, Inorganic Polymers, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 1992.

6. V. Chandrasekhar, Inorganic and Organometallic Polymers, Springer, Berlin, 2005.