The model on the right above is an image of the pdb model
you can view by clicking here or you can just click on the image itself.
Either way, be sure to close the new window that opens up
with the 3D model in it when you are ready to come back here.
Polydicyclopentadiene is made by a nifty reaction called ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) from the monomer endo-dicyclopentadiene. Click here if you want to see the monomer in 3-D.
But it's not done yet! There's a double bond left in the bottom ring, as you can see in the picture of polydicyclopentadiene. These can undergo vinyl polymerization, to give us a crosslinked thermoset material.
This thermoset is good stuff, but you can't mold a thermoset. So how do we make anything from it? The answer is to make it in chunks that are already shaped like we want them. The fancy name for this is called reaction injection molding or RIM for short. Put simply, we fill a mold full of the monomer, and polymerize it in the mold. That's how we can make products from thermosets.
Here are some other polymers used as thermosets:
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