. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Mar 2.

Published in final edited form as: Chem Soc Rev. 2011 Mar 25;40(7):3677–3702. doi: 10.1039/c0cs00138d

Table 1.

Common polymers and their physiochemical properties and comparison to glass

Material	Acronym	T_g/°C	T_m/°C	CTE (α) ppm °C^–1	Refractive index	Young's modulus/GPa	Optical transmissivity
Material	Acronym	T_g/°C	T_m/°C	CTE (α) ppm °C^–1	Refractive index	Young's modulus/GPa	UV	Vis
Polystyrene	PS	92–100	240–260	10–150	1.55–1.59	3.3–3.5	Poor	Excellent
Polycarbonate	PC	145–148	260–270	60–70	1.584	2.0–2.4	Poor	Excellent
Poly(methyl methacrylate)	PMMA	100–122	250–260	70–150	1.492	1.8–3.1	Good	Excellent
Cyclic olefin co(polymer)	COC	70–155	190–320	60–80	1.53	2.6–3.2	Excellent	Excellent
Poly(ethylene terephthalate)	PET	69–78	248–260	48–78	1.575	2.0–2.7	Good	Good
Polypropylene	PP	–20	160	18–185	1.49	1.5–2.0	Fair	Good
Poly(dimethylsiloxane)	PDMS	–125	–55	67.3	1.40	0.36–0.87 × 10^–3	Excellent	Excellent
Glass (Soda lime)	G	520–600	1040	9	1.52	50–90	Good	Excellent

CTE—Coefficient of thermal expansion (linear).