Why is Hermann Staudinger an important figure in polymer chemistry?

          Herman Staudinger was not the first chemist to work with polymers. But his significant contributions laid the foundations to diverse applications of polymers.

          Staudinger was a professor in organic chemistry at Zurich when he proposed some of the pioneering theories on polymer structures of fibres and plastics.

          In the 1920s, he found out that rubber has a high molecular weight. He also presented a paper showing several reactions capable of forming structures high molecular weight.

          Staudinger explained how smaller units combine to form a large structure. He called the process polymerization. Before that, polymers were thought of as aggregates of molecules and this idea was based on Thomas Graham’s work. His studies on biological macro-molecules led to a lot of later discoveries of commercial importance.

          Staudinger’s ideas were criticized heavily by other chemists of his time, but were finally accepted by the 1950s. In 1953, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his contributions in understanding macromolecular chemistry.

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