What is cross linking ?

[david hong]

Cross-linking is used in both synthetic polymer chemistry and in the biological sciences. Although the term is used to refer to the "linking of polymer chains" for both sciences, the extent of crosslinking and specificities of the crosslinking agents vary. Of course, with all science, there are overlaps, and the following delineations are a starting point to understanding the subtleties.

When cross links are added to long rubber molecules, the flexibility decreases, the hardness increases and the melting point increases as well.

[katejohn302]

In chemistry and biology a cross-link is a bond that links one polymer chain to another. These links may take the form of covalent bonds or ionic bonds and the polymers can be either synthetic polymers or natural polymers.