Bio-nanocomposites combine the enhanced properties of commercial polymer nanocomposites with the low environmental impact of biodegradable material, making them a topic of great current interest. Because of their tremendous role in reducing dependency on commercial non-biodegradable polymers, and their environmentally-friendly nature, bio-nanocomposites need to be studied in greater detail. In this book, recent advancements in their development are brought together in a single text, to provide researchers with a thorough insight into the various systems, and to open up future perspectives. Although the commercial applications of these bio-nanocomposites are in their infancy, these materials have a huge commercial potential. In setting out the next generation of advances in nanocomposite technology, this book opens the way for further developments in the field.
Describing the subject as a whole, from a basic introduction to the more specific systems and advancements, this book can be used both as a professional reference and for teaching purposes.

This book presents and discusses recent research developments in the field of chemical physics. Topics discussed herein include quantum dynamics in base pair DNA systems; chemical physical properties of bioprotectant-biomolecule systems; chemical physics of phonons; optimisation of polar solar cells; computer molecular modelling; wood pyrolysis; and phonon dynamics of fe-based glassy alloys.

Neutron Protein Crystallography is one of the first books dedicated to the emerging field of neutron protein crystallography (NPC). The text covers all of the practical aspects of NPC, from the basic background of neutron scattering and diffraction, to the technical details of neutron facilities, growth of high-quality crystals, and data analysis. The final chapter is devoted to providing many examples of using NPC to investigate a wide range of different proteins. It demonstrates how NPC can explore hydrogen bonds, protonation and deprotonation of amino acid residues, hydration structures, and hydrogen-to-deuterium exchange ratios.
To avoid redundancy with other textbooks on X-ray protein crystallography (XPC), this book assumes a familiarity with the basics of XPC and strives to highlight and explain the differences between XPC and NPC. It is therefore especially useful for X-ray protein crystallographers who are eager to have a sound, scientific basis for judging if NPC is the right technique for furthering their experimental programs.

Conjugated polymers have important technological applications, including solar cells and light emitting displays. They are also active components in many important biological processes. In recent years there have been significant advances in our understanding of these systems, owing to both improved experimental measurements and the development of advanced computational techniques. The aim of this book is to describe and explain the electronic and optical properties of conjugated polymers. It focuses on the character and energetic ordering of the electronic states and relates these properties to experimental observations in real systems. A number of important optical and electronic processes in conjugated polymers are also described.

Brownian motion - the incessant motion of small particles suspended in a fluid - is an important topic in statistical physics and physical chemistry. This book studies its origin in molecular scale fluctuations, its description in terms of random process theory and also in terms of statistical mechanics. A number of new applications of these descriptions to physical and chemical processes, as well as statistical mechanical derivations and the mathematical background are discussed in detail. Graduate students, lecturers, and researchers in statistical physics and physical chemistry will find this an interesting and useful reference work.

This prestigious series provides the chemical physics field with a forum for critical, authoritative evaluations of advances in every area of the discipline. Volume 112 continues to report on recent advances through significant, up-to-date chapters by internationally recognized researchers.

This book provides a critical review of the equilibrium elastic properties of rubber, together with the kinetic-theory background. It is suitable for the non-specialist and the emphasis is on the physical reality embodied in the mathematical formulations. Polymer science had developed greatly since the second edition of this text in 1958, and the two main advances - the refinements of the network theory and associated thermodynamic analysis, and the development of the phenomenological or non-molecular approach to the subject - are both reflected in the structure of this third edition.

Chemical Physics of Pyrolysis, Combustion & Oxidation

Ordinary foams such as the head of a glass of beer and more exotic ones such as solid metallic foams, raise many questions for the physicist and have attracted a substantial research community in recent years. The book describes the results of extensive experiments , computer simulations and theories in an authoritative yet formal style, making ample use of illustrations and photographs.

This book provides a comprehensive survey of modern molecular astrophysics. It includes an introduction to molecular spectroscopy and then addresses the main areas of current molecular astrophysics, including galaxy formation, star forming regions, mass loss from young as well as highly evolved stars and supernovae, starburst galaxies plus the tori and discs near the central engines of active galactic nuclei. All chapters have been written by invited authors who are acknowledged experts in their fields. The thorough editorial process has ensured a uniformly high standard of exposition and a coherent style. The book is unique in giving a detailed view of its wide-ranging subject. It will provide the standard introduction for research students in molecular astrophysics. The book will be read by research astronomers and astrophysicists who wish to broaden the basis of their knowledge or are moving their activities into this burgeoning field. It will enable chemists to learn the astrophysics most related to chemistry as well as instruct physicists about the molecular processes most important in astronomy.

This comprehensive and systematic text provides the polymer scientist and technologist with a firm grounding in the principles underlying the wide applications of block copolymers. The first text of its kind for over ten years, this informative book is essential to the polymer chemistry, physics and materials science researcher in industry and academia, and postgraduates in related fields.

The primer is intended to provide a good introduction for chemistry, physics and material science undergraduates to the science of surfaces. It incorporates both chemical thermodynamics and modern spectroscopic methods of analysing surfaces, and shows via worked examples and problems in the final chapter, how the physico-chemical concepts developed in earlier chapters may be applied in elucidating surface structure, reactivity and composition.

Winner of a 2005 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book Award Molecular symmetry is an easily applied tool for understanding and predicting many of the properties of molecules. Traditionally, students are taught this subject using point groups derived from the equilibrium geometry of the molecule. Fundamentals of Molecular Symmetry shows how to set up symmetry groups for molecules using the more general idea of energy invariance. It is no more difficult than using molecular geometry and one obtains molecular symmetry groups. The book provides an introductory description of molecular spectroscopy and quantum mechanics as the foundation for understanding how molecular symmetry is defined and used. The approach taken gives a balanced account of using both point groups and molecular symmetry groups. Usually the point group is only useful for isolated, nonrotating molecules, executing small amplitude vibrations, with no tunneling, in isolated electronic states. However, for the chemical physicist or physical chemist who wishes to go beyond these limitations, the molecular symmetry group is almost always required.

This series provides the chemical physics field with a forum for critical, authoritative evaluations of advances in every area of the discipline. "Volume 145" in the series continues to report recent advances with significant, up-to-date chapters by internationally recognized researchers.

Nanostructured oxide materials - ultra-thin films, nanoparticles and other nanometer-scale objects - play prominent roles in many aspects of our every-day life, in nature and in technological applications, among which is the all-oxide electronics of tomorrow. Due to their reduced dimensions and dimensionality, they strongly interact with their environment: gaseous atmosphere, water or support. Their novel physical and chemical properties are the subject of this book, from both a fundamental and an applied perspective. Oxide Thin Films and Nanostructures reviews and illustrates the various methodologies for their growth, fabrication, experimental and theoretical characterization. The role of key parameters such as film thickness, nanoparticle size and support interactions in driving their fundamental properties is underlined. At the ultimate thickness limit, two-dimensional oxide materials are generated, whose functionalities and potential applications are described. The emerging field of cation mixing is mentioned, which opens new avenues for engineering many oxide properties, as witnessed by natural oxide nanomaterials such as clay minerals, which, beyond their role at the Earth's surface, are now widely used in a whole range of human activities. Oxide nanomaterials are involved in many interdisciplinary fields of advanced nanotechnologies. Catalysis, photocatalysis, solar energy materials, fuel cells, corrosion protection, and biotechnological applications are amongst the areas where they are making an impact. The book outlines prototypical examples. A cautious glimpse into future developments of scientific activity is finally ventured to round off the presentation.

The purpose of this book is to explain the basic physical principles underlying the use of supercritical fluids. Excessive detail is avoided and experimental examples are used sparingly to illustrate the principles, so that the basic principles are clear. Some of the topics are not presently covered in other books or in the literature. The first half of the book covers the very basic topics and in the second half these are applied to separation methods and chemical reactions.

Following an explosion of research on Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) ignited by demonstration of the effect by 2001 Nobel prize winners Cornell, Wieman and Ketterle, this book surveys the field of BEC studies. Written by experts in the field, it focuses on Bose-Einstein condensation as a universal phenomenon, covering topics such as cold atoms, magnetic and optical condensates in solids, liquid helium and field theory. Summarising general theoretical concepts and the research to date - including novel experimental realisations in previously inaccessible systems and their theoretical interpretation - it is an excellent resource for researchers and students in theoretical and experimental physics who wish to learn of the general themes of BEC in different subfields.

This book deals with a central topic at the interface of chemistry and physics-the understanding of how the transformation of matter takes place at the atomic level. Building on the laws of physics, the book focuses on the theoretical framework for predicting the outcome of chemical reactions. The style is highly systematic with attention to basic concepts and clarity of presentation. The emphasis is on concepts and insights obtained via analytical theories rather than computational and numerical aspects. Molecular reaction dynamics is about the detailed atomic-level description of chemical reactions. Based on quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics, the dynamics of uni- and bi-molecular elementary reactions are described. The book features a comprehensive presentation of transition-state theory which plays an important role in practice, and a detailed discussion of basic theories of reaction dynamics in condensed phases. Examples and end-of-chapter problems are included in order to illustrate the theory and its connection to chemical problems. The second edition includes updated descriptions of adiabatic and non-adiabatic electron-nuclear dynamics, an expanded discussion of classical two-body models of chemical reactions, including the Langevin model, additional material on quantum tunnelling and its implementation in Transition-State Theory, and a more thorough description of the Born and Onsager models for solvation.

Presenting the quantum mechanical theory of pressure broadening and its application in atmospheric science, this is a unique treatment of the topic and a useful resource for researchers and professionals alike. Rayer proceeds from molecular processes to broad scale atmospheric physics to bring together both sides of the problem of remote sensing. Explanations of the relationship between a series of increasingly general theoretical papers are provided and all key expressions are fully derived to provide a firm understanding of assumptions made as the subject evolved. This book will help the atmospheric physicist to cross into the quantum world and appreciate the more theoretical aspects of line shape and its importance to their own work.

Physical Chemistry is a difficult and diversified subject. Based on a good long spell of university teaching, this book lays emphasis on the structure and continuity of the whole subject and tries to show the relation of its various parts to one another. Certain themes or, one might almost say, leitmotifs run through physical chemistry, and these have been used to unify the composition. The treatment is neither historical nor formally deductive, but at each stage the author tries to indicate the route by which an inquiring mind might most simply and naturally proceed in its attempt to understand that part of the nature of things included in physical chemistry.

There exists a wide variety of patterns in nature, from inert matter such as crystalline dendrites and flames, to filamentous fungi and neurones in the living world. Their structural evolution during growth can be theoretically modeled in order to predict the shape of their forms, their dimensions and their growth rate. New Visions on Growth and Form aims at answering such questions by employing different theoretical approaches and providing a critical appraisal.
The book is part of the wide field of non-equilibrium statistical physics, and explores different mechanisms such as transport, interfacial tension, and chemical reactions, which govern the growth of a material. It explains the fundamental equations relating different morphological quantities, as well as the relevant experimental control parameters. From the unifying concepts arising in the theoretical approach the author proposes a tentative description of cell morphogenesis as a further application of the theory.

Scattering theory provides a framework for understanding the scattering of waves and particles. This book presents a simple physical picture of diffractive nuclear scattering in terms of semi-classical trajectories, illustrated throughout with examples and case studies. Trajectories in a complex impact parameter plane are discussed, and it stresses the importance of the analytical properties of the phase shift function in this complex impact plane in the asymptotic limit. Several new rainbow phenomena are also discussed and illustrated. Written by Nobel Prize winner Roy J. Glauber, and Per Osland, an expert in the field of particle physics, the book illustrates the transition from quantum to classical scattering, and provides a valuable resource for researchers using scattering theory in nuclear, particle, atomic and molecular physics.

The Advances in Chemical Physics series presents the cutting edge in every area of the discipline and provides the field with a forum for critical, authoritative evaluations of advances. It provides an editorial framework that makes each volume an excellent supplement to advanced graduate classes, with contributions from experts around the world and a handy glossary for easy reference on new terminology. This series is a wonderful guide for students and professionals in chemical physics and physical chemistry, from academia, government, and industries including chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and polymers.

This book provides an introduction to optical multidimensional coherent spectroscopy, a relatively new method of studying materials based on using ultrashort light pulses to perform spectroscopy. The technique has been developed and perfected over the last 25 years, resulting in multiple experimental approaches and applications to a broad array of systems ranging from atoms and molecules to solids and biological systems. Indeed, while this method is most often used by physical chemists, it is also relevant to materials of interest to physicists, which is the primary focus of this book. As well as an introduction to the method, the book also provides tutorials on the interpretation of the rather complex spectra that is broadly applicable across all subfields, and finishes with a survey of several emerging material systems and a discussion of future directions.

It is difficult to imagine how our highly evolved technological society would function, or how life would even exist on our planet, if polymers did not exist. The intensive study of polymeric systems, which has been under way for several decades, has recently yielded new insights into the properties of assemblies of these complex molecules and the physical principles that govern their behavior. These developments have included new concepts to describe aspects of the many body behavior in these systems, microscopic analyses that bring our understanding of these systems much closer to our understanding of simple liquids and solids, and the discovery of novel chemistry that these molecules can catalyze.
This special topic volume of Advances in Chemical Physics surveys a number of these recent accomplishments. Supplemented with more than 250 illustrations, it provides a significant, up-to-date selection of papers by inter-nationally recognized researchers.
Topics include:
* Theory of Polyelectrolyte Solutions
* Star Polymers: Experiment, Theory, and Simulation
* Tethered Polymer Layers
* Living Polymers
* Transport and Kinetics in Electroactive Polymers
Self-contained, authoritative, and timely, Polymeric Systems makes the cutting edge of polymer research available to scientists in every branch of chemical physics.
Contributors to POLYMERIC SYSTEMS
JEAN-LOUIS BARRAT, DA(c)partement de Physique des MatA(c)riaux, UniversitA(c) Claude Bernard-Lyon l, France
A. BAUMGARTNER, Institut fA1/4r FestkArperforschung, Germany
M. A. CARIGNANO, Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
LEWIS J. FETTERS, CorporateResearch Science Laboratories, Exxon Research and Engineering Company, Annandale, New Jersey
SANDRA C. GREER, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Maryland at College Park
GARY S. GREST, Corporate Research Science Laboratories, Exxon Research and Engineering Company, Annandale, New Jersey
JOHN S. HUANG, Corporate Research Science Laboratories, Exxon Research and Engineering Company, Annandale, New Jersey
JEAN-FRANAOIS JOANNY, Institut Charles Sadron, France
MICHAEL E. G. LYONS, Electroactive Polymer Research Group, Physical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Dublin, Ireland
M. MUTHUKUMAR, Department of Polymer Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts
DIETER RICHTER, Institut fA1/4r FestkArperforschung, Germany
I. SZLEIFER, Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana