Terpolymer Preparation Syed et al. Recent Trends in Terpolymer Preparation and Characterization – An Overview S. S. Syed Abuthahir,[a,e] * P.Shanthy,[b] N.Vijaya,[c] R.Joseph Rathish,[d] S.Santhana Prabha,[d] A. Jamal Abdul Nasser, [a] and S. Rajendran[e] A new polymer made from the combination of three different monomers is known as terpolymer, which has high molecular weight. Terpolymerization is the joint polymerization of three or more monomer species. It is carried out to vary the properties of polymer such as hardness, strength, rigidity, heat resistance etc., It is used in high performance elastomers with excellent high temperature, oil and chemical resistance available as conventional copolymers and terpolymers. Special terpolymer can be designed for improving mechanical properties in moulding and extrusion applications. High viscosity terpolymer that provides excellent balance of physical properties for moulded products. Very high viscosity terpolymer for superior mechanical and composition set resistance provides improved adhesion to substrate. Terpolymer resin is used in ion exchange process to recover certain metal ions from waste solutions and for the purpose of waste water solution and removal of iron from boiler water. It is used in energy storage capacitors as high dielectric constant terpolymer. The terpolymeric ligand and its polychelates are used against certain pathogenic bacterias. Generally the terpolymer is synthesized by solution condensation, melt condensation or emulsion polymerization in an acid medium, base medium or catalyst. The recent trends in preparation and characterization of terpolymer and its chelates are discussed Keywords: Terpolymer, synthesis and characterization, polymer metal complex, polymer review. *Corresponding Authors [a] Post Graduate & Research Department of Chemistry, Jamal Mohamed College, Tiruchirappalli 620 020, India. Email : syedchem05@gmail.com, ajanasser@yahoo.com [b] Department of Chemistry,Kunthavai Naachiar Govt. Arts College, Thanjavur, India. [c] Department of Chemistry,Vellalar College for Women, Thindal, Erode, India. [d] PSNA College of Engineering and Technology, Dindigul, India. [e] Department of Chemistry, RVS School of Engineering and Technology, Dindigul-624 005, India. Email : susairajendran@gmail.com. 1. INTRODUCTION The term terpolymerization refers to the simultaneous polymerization of three monomers together. This review presents an account of the synthesis and characterization of terpolymer metal complexes. Examination of the early literature reveals that terpolymerization was initiated when polymer science was in its infancy. It continued to grow to become a subject of major importance and evoked the interest of both academics and industrialists alike. The terpolymerization is readily achieved through the application of the concept and techniques already developed for multicomponent polymerization. It allows the gathering of information about the reactivity of certain classes of monomers otherwise not available. It is proposed to develop the many effects such as heat resistance, elasticity, tensile strength, transparency, solvent resistance and dimensational stability which were obtained through the proper choice of the two monomers and special effects such as vulcanization, modified flow properties, antiseptic properties and drying ability which were obtained by the incorporation of a third monomer. The polymer metal complex is a metal complex containing a polymer ligand presenting a remarkably specific structure in which central metal ions are surrounded by an enormous polymer chain [1]. Based on this polymeric ligand, the polymer metal complex shows interesting and important characteristics, especially catalytic activities which are different from the corresponding ordinary metal complexes of low molecular weight [2]. In recent years polymer metal complex has been of interest to many chemists, because they have come to understand that these compounds could lead to highly efficient catalysts and chemically modified electrodes [3]. Coordination polymers acquired a renewed research interest in the recent past because of their interesting properties such as ability to bind toxic metal ions, thermal stability, exhibition of catalyst, Int. J. Nano. Corr. Sci. Engg. 1(1) (2014) 63 E-ISSN: 2395 - 7018