ABSTRACT
Reactions occurring on polymers in nature and industry are widespread. In nature, reactions
on polymers serve as the basis for information transfer, synthesis of needed biomaterials,
degradation of biomaterials, and in fact reactions of polymers are at the core of life itself.
Nature also reacts with synthetic polymers as they age, degrade, and cross-link. Synthetic
polymers also serve as the basic material for the production of many important fibers,
elastomers, and plastics. The nature of these reactions is governed similarly, whether the
source and site of the polymer is natural or man-made. There are some differences especially
with respect to the precision of the interaction and predicted outcome. Some polymer
interactions, such as those that transfer information, must occur with a very high degree of
precision for each and every incident. By comparison, naturally induced degradation of natural
and synthetic polymers through weathering occurs through general steps that can be described
in some statistical manner.
