1.1.5　Branched Polymers

A branched polymer（支链型聚合物）can be visualized as（被看成）a linear polymer with branches of the same basic structure as the main chain.A branched polymer structure is illustrated in Figure 1.1.Branched polymers are often soluble in the same solvents as the corresponding linear polymer.In fact，their many properties are similar to（与……相似）those of linear polymers.However，they can sometimes be distinguished from（区别于）linear polymers by their lower tendency to crystallize or by their different solution viscosity or light-scattering（光散射）behavior.Heavily branched polymers may swell in certain solvents without dissolving completely.

Figure 1.1　Branched polymer

Figure 1.2　Crosslinked polymer