Metallopolymers: New multifunctional materials

Since the mid 1990s soluble, well-characterized high molecular weight metal-containing and metallosupramolecular polymers have become readily available for the first time, even in some cases, with narrow molecular weight distributions and controlled architectures such as block copolymers. This has led to a rapidly expanding interest in their properties and uses. The review provides a survey of the range of applications for these new materials, which combine the processing advantages of polymers with the functionality provided by the presence of metal centers.