Preface

Polymer chemistry is a compulsory basic course of polymeric materials and engineering and interrelated specialities in engineering colleges.It is also listed as a compulsory or optional course for students majoring in science in universities of science and technology and chemistry in teacher universities.In addition，many non-polymer majors are also engaged in polymer research，production and application after graduation because of the large production，variety，wide application and high economic benefits of polymers.In particular，the internationalization of China’s development requires that trained students can engage in scientific research，production technology and management abroad.This is urgently required for a bilingual textbook or a reference book with high value in English and Chinese.

There are many English textbooks for polymer chemistry in foreign countries.Because there are so many local words and unfamiliar words，even university teachers have difficulty in dealing with the skimming and scanning.It is difficult to find suitable original English textbook for the students in local universities in China to master professional vocabulary and professional knowledge.Therefore，on the basis of our fifteen years' experience in bilingual teaching，a bilingual textbook on polymer chemistry has been written to suit for local universities in China.Try to be literal and easy to understand，and professional words and new words are annotated in Chinese.To improve the readability and applicability of the textbook，it offers opportunities for students from a variety of backgrounds to gain basic knowledge，understanding and skills in polymer materials.

In the teaching plan of polymer materials and engineering specialty，there are courses such as polymer chemistry，polymer physics（structure and performance），fundamentals of polymer molding and processing.In this case，the emphasis of polymer chemistry should be put on the principle of polymerization，but relationship between structure，properties and application should not be neglected.In the introduction of this textbook，the basic concepts of polymers，molecular weight and distribution of polymers，microstructure，classification of polymers，types of polymerization reactions，nomenclature of polymers，and development history of polymers are highlighted one by one in order to draw attention to them and hopefully penetrate them into later chapters.When we need to know more about these contents，we should refer to other textbooks or monographs.

From the point of view of polymer materials，the synthesis，structure，properties and applications of polymers can be introduced according to the types of polymers.This book，on the one hand，is classified according to polymerization mechanism，kinetics and polymerization methods，and then discusses free radical polymerization，free radical copolymerization，ionic polymerization（including anionic polymerization，coordination polymerization and cationic polymerization），step polymerization，chemical reactions of polymers and polymerization methods in turn.On the other hand，ring-opening polymerization includes anionic polymerization，cationic polymerization and step polymerization，so it is written as an indepen-dent chapter.This will contribute to deepen the problem.

The three chapters of free-radical polymerization，free-radical copolymerization and step polymerization are the major ones，and their theoretical system and content are the most mature.At the same time，students should be aware that the material literature in ionic po-lymerization and coordination polymerization are very abundant，however，from the overall opinion，theoretical research is still in immature，imperfect stage.Therefore，we only introduce the basic concepts，basic principles and other basic knowledge in these chapters.In general polymer chemistry textbooks，except for emulsion polymerization，the other polymerization methods are very brief.Considering that there is not the course of polymer production technology in many engineering colleges and universities，and that polymerization mechanism and kinetics should be closely related to practice，this book extends the content of polymerization method（process）appropriately from polymerization reaction engineering，and gives some examples.The chapter on chemical reactions of polymers，especially the rapid development of functional polymers in recent years，covers a wide range of topics.Each section of this chapter can be developed into an independent course or monograph.Unfortunately，under the condition of limited space，we can only comprehensively consider the content of each part，and make a brief introduction not in-depth discussion.The purpose is to give students some ideas in order to open up their horizons and broaden thinking.

The structure and form of olefin monomers have little change by chain polymerization，but the properties of polymers are obviously different.However，the monomers with functional groups can form condensate polymers with different structures and properties after condensation or step polymerization.Therefore，in the chapter of step polymerization，the syntheses of many kinds of condensate polymers are introduced systematically through the practical application on the mechanism of condensation polymerization and polymerization methods.Such treatment can reflect the diversity of condensation polymerization and supplement much knowledge about condensate polymers.

This book was written by Ming Zhou and Jialin Dai.Chapters 1-6 were written by professor Zhou of Southwest Petroleum University.Chapters 7 and 8 were written by professor Dai of Southwest Petroleum University.Professor Zhou revised the whole textbook.Zhou’s postgraduates Yiping Chen，Yinghua Gu and Rongjun Yi helped to change the format and handle words.

Ming Zhou