Polymers are the materials of the 21st century. How can the results of academic polymer research, which often focuses on the formation of complex architectures, be applied to industrial research, where reducing costs and raising efficiency are key?

Brigitte Voit, Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research, Dresden, Germany, who was on the Editorial Board of Angewandte Chemie from 2009 to 2016, discusses her vision of how the results of academic polymer research should be brought to the market in an Editorial. Voit argues that what is required is the translation of the academic knowledge into cost-effective and scalable products. Not more: Consumers will pay only for what they need, and nothing else.

Furthermore, not every carefully designed polymer from an academic group will lead to a new technology. This is particularly important in the field of nanomaterials, where a strong partnership between polymer chemists, physicists, and engineers is needed to successfully combine the nano- and macroworlds. The reduction of complexity and the transfer of knowledge are essential for developing market-ready products.

• New Polymers: Beautiful Structures, But How Can We Bring Them to the Market?,
  Brigitte Voit,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017.
  DOI: 10.1002/anie.201700811