Werner E.G. Mu¨ller l Xiaohong Wang l
Heinz C. Schro¨der
Editors
2013
Bioactivity and Applications of Natural and
Synthetic Polymeric Inorganic Molecules
Inorganic polymers are a relatively small group ofmolecules as compared to the large group of organic polymers. They comprise both short-chain polymers and long-chain polymers with one type of atom or two or more types of atoms in the polymer backbone. Examples are homochain polymers, e.g., polysilanes, polygermanes, polystannanes, and polysulfides, and heterochain polymers, e.g., polysilazanes, polyphosphazenes, polyborazylenes, and polythiazyls. Many of these polymers are not soluble or not stable inwater, but some of themcan be formed in aqueous solution even by enzymatic reactions, for example, inorganic polyphosphates and polysilicates.
