Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Polymers: Molecular Weight Distribution01:10

Polymers: Molecular Weight Distribution

3.4K
For any given polymer, the weight average molecular weight (Mw) is higher than, if not equal to, the number average molecular weight (Mn). The only situation in which the weight average molecular weight and the number average molecular weight are equal is when a polymer consists only of chains with equal molecular weight. However, this never happens in a synthetic polymer, since it is difficult to control the polymerization process up to a molecular level with accuracy to a hundred percent.
3.4K
Polymer Classification: Architecture01:14

Polymer Classification: Architecture

2.7K
Polymers are classified as linear or branched on the basis of their chain architecture. The polymer chains in linear polymers have a long chain-like structure with minimal to no branching at all. Even if a polymer features large substituent groups on the monomer, which appear as branches to the skeleton, it is not considered a branched polymer. A branched polymer contains secondary polymer chains that arise from the main polymer chain. The branching occurs when the polymer growth shifts from...
2.7K
Polymers: Defining Molecular Weight01:01

Polymers: Defining Molecular Weight

2.9K
Unlike small molecules with definite molecular weights, polymers are a mixture of individual polymer chains of varying lengths, each with a unique molecular weight.  So, the molecular weight of a polymer is expressed as an average value based on the average size of the polymer chains. The two most common forms of averages used for polymers are the number average molecular weight and weight average molecular weight.
The number average molecular weight (Mn) is the summation of the number...
2.9K
Characteristics and Nomenclature of Copolymers01:24

Characteristics and Nomenclature of Copolymers

2.5K
Copolymers are the products obtained from the polymerization of multiple monomer species. So, in a polymer chain itself, there can be multiple repeating units that come from different monomers. The process of synthesizing a polymer from different monomer species is called copolymerization. When two monomers are involved, the polymer is known as a bipolymer. Polymers with three and four monomers are termed terpolymers and quaterpolymers, respectively. Figure 1 depicts the copolymerization of...
2.5K
Characteristics and Nomenclature of Homopolymers01:00

Characteristics and Nomenclature of Homopolymers

3.0K
Polymers that are made up of identical monomer units are called homopolymers. Only one repeating unit is involved in the construction of the homopolymer structure. For example, as depicted in Figure 1, polypropylene is a homopolymer constituted of propylene monomers. Here, the only repeating unit in the polymer chain is propylene.
3.0K
Step-Growth Polymerization: Overview01:03

Step-Growth Polymerization: Overview

3.5K
Step-growth or condensation polymerization is a stepwise reaction of bi or multifunctional monomers to form long-chain polymers. As all the monomers are reactive, most of the monomers are consumed at the early stages of the reaction to form small chains of reactive oligomers, which then combine to form long polymer chains in the late stages. Hence, the reaction has to proceed for a long time to achieve high molecular weight polymers.
Many natural and synthetic polymers are produced by...
3.5K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Measuring the exposome: a practical guide for using wearable passive samplers to assess environmental influences.

Exposome·2026
Same author

Assessment and spatial characterization of ground-level ozone exposure using a low-cost sensor network.

Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987)·2026
Same author

Evaluating 1,4-Dioxane Exposure in Long Island, New York: Integrating Environmental, Biological, and Metabolomic Measures.

Environmental science & technology·2026
Same author

Quantifying PFAS-Omics Burden Scores for Nontargeted Analysis Using Multidimensional Item Response Theory: An Exploratory Analysis of Novel and Legacy PFAS in Cord Blood.

Environmental science & technology·2026
Same author

Approaching a 0% False Positive Rate for PFAS Determination Leveraging Only MS1 Data.

Environmental science & technology·2026
Same author

Knowledge and Confidence of Physician Assistant Students in Managing Patients with a Documented Penicillin Allergy.

Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland)·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 4, 2025

Polymer Microarrays for High Throughput Discovery of Biomaterials
13:37

Polymer Microarrays for High Throughput Discovery of Biomaterials

Published on: January 25, 2012

14.6K

PolyMatch: Novel Libraries, Algorithms, and Visualizations for Discovering Polymers and Chemical Series.

Jeremy P Koelmel1, Paul Stelben1, Nicholas Oranzi2

  • 1School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, United States.

Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry
|February 1, 2024
PubMed
Summary

A new software, PolyMatch, aids in characterizing polymers like polyethylene glycols (PEGs) and polysorbates using mass spectrometry. This tool enhances understanding of polymer properties and potential health impacts in various products.

More Related Videos

Combinatorial Synthesis of and High-throughput Protein Release from Polymer Film and Nanoparticle Libraries
10:58

Combinatorial Synthesis of and High-throughput Protein Release from Polymer Film and Nanoparticle Libraries

Published on: September 6, 2012

10.4K
Curation of Computational Chemical Libraries Demonstrated with Alpha-Amino Acids
08:21

Curation of Computational Chemical Libraries Demonstrated with Alpha-Amino Acids

Published on: April 13, 2022

2.7K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 4, 2025

Polymer Microarrays for High Throughput Discovery of Biomaterials
13:37

Polymer Microarrays for High Throughput Discovery of Biomaterials

Published on: January 25, 2012

14.6K
Combinatorial Synthesis of and High-throughput Protein Release from Polymer Film and Nanoparticle Libraries
10:58

Combinatorial Synthesis of and High-throughput Protein Release from Polymer Film and Nanoparticle Libraries

Published on: September 6, 2012

10.4K
Curation of Computational Chemical Libraries Demonstrated with Alpha-Amino Acids
08:21

Curation of Computational Chemical Libraries Demonstrated with Alpha-Amino Acids

Published on: April 13, 2022

2.7K

Area of Science:

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Polymer Science
  • Computational Chemistry

Background:

  • Polymers are ubiquitous in consumer products, necessitating detailed molecular characterization for understanding properties and health implications.
  • Key polymer characteristics include repeating units, chemical moieties, functional groups, and unsaturation levels.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To introduce PolyMatch, a free, open-source, vendor-neutral software for annotating polymers.
  • To facilitate the characterization of polysorbates, polyethylene glycols (PEGs), and related species using mass spectral and chromatographic data.
  • To support the entire liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS/MS) data processing workflow.

Main Methods:

  • Development and application of the PolyMatch software for polymer annotation.
  • Utilized mass spectral and chromatographic patterns inherent in polymer repeating units.
  • Employed LC-HRMS/MS with iterative exclusion for comprehensive fragmentation analysis on a Tween 80 mixture.

Main Results:

  • PolyMatch automatically assigned 86 features with high confidence at the species level.
  • 362 features were assigned based on polyethylene glycol (PEG) fragments and accurate mass matching.
  • Over 10,000 features were identified as members of homologous series with ethylene oxide repeating units.

Conclusions:

  • PolyMatch provides comprehensive, species-level assignment for polymer characterization.
  • The software's ease of use and broad coverage are expected to advance materials science, health research, and product development.