monomer

1. (chemistry) A relatively small molecule which can be covalently bonded to other monomers to form a polymer or oligomer.Examples: "The water absorbency of the anionically starch-grafted AA/AM absorbent is markedly affected by the pH of the buffer solution at different ionic strengths. The charge of the ionic monomer affects the pH sensitivity of the superabsorbent polymers. An acidic superabsorbent normally ionizes at high pH but unionizes at low pH."; "Nothing at all in the German fridge, so new that its interior smells only of cold and long-chain monomers."; "In a recent paper on homopyrimidine decamers containing aeg-monomers and thymine monomers with a sulfomethyl substituent at the γ-position, similar triplexes has also been described [43 ]."