Macromolecular Engineering: Design, Synthesis and Application of Polymers explores the role of macromolecular engineering in the development of polymer systems with engineered structures that offer the desired combination of properties for advanced applications. This book is organized into sections covering theory and principles, science and technology, architectures and technologies, and applications, with an emphasis on the latest advances in techniques, materials, properties, and end uses - and including recently commercialized, or soon to be commercialized, designed polymer systems. The chapters are contributed by a group of leading figures who are actively researching in the field. This is an invaluable resource for researchers and scientists interested in polymer synthesis and design, across the fields of polymer chemistry, polymer science, plastics engineering, and materials science and engineering. In industry, this book supports engineers, R&D, and scientists working on polymer design for application areas such as biomedical and healthcare, automotive and aerospace, construction and consumer goods.

Solid State Physics, Volume 71 provides the latest volume in this long-running series. This latest volume highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters written by an international board of authors.

Generation of Polymers and Nanomaterials at Liquid-Liquid Interfaces: Application to Crystalline, Light Emitting, and Energy Materials, Second Edition is an innovative guide to the synthesis and processing of materials through liquid-liquid interfaces. This second edition has been revised and expanded, with a new chapter on light emitting materials and increased emphasis towards applications. The book aims to highlight the versatility of the interface between two liquids, providing a unique environment for synthesizing materials with highly tuned, desirable properties. In this revised and expanded second edition, the advanced applications of the synthesized materials and the two-phase systems are highlighted, with real potential within flexible electronics, energy storage, enhanced oil recovery, and sensors. This is supported by detailed coverage of interfacial processes and the fundamental physical chemistry behind them. The first two chapters provide an overview of interfaces in natural and biological systems, and outline the fundamental properties of the interface. Chapters 3 and 4 are devoted to the synthesis and self-organization of nanoparticles and polymers through interfacial systems. The synthesis of conductive, fluorescent and conventional polymers and their properties are extensively covered. Chapters 5 and 6 focus on novel applications. This book is of interest to researchers, scientists, and advanced students, in polymer synthesis, polymer chemistry, polymer science, nanomaterials and nanotechnology, polymer composites, materials science, energy, flexible electronics, and chemical engineering. In industry, this supports scientists, R&D, and other professionals, working with polymeric materials for applications in energy, electronics, sensors, and oil & gas.

This book, edited by M. A. Ramos and contributed by several reputed physicists in the field, presents a timely review on low-temperature thermal and vibrational properties of glasses, and of disordered solids in general. In 1971, the seminal work of Zeller and Pohl was published, which triggered this relevant research field in condensed matter physics. Hence, this book also commemorates about 50 years of that highlight with a comprehensive, updated review.In brief, glasses (firstly genuine amorphous solids but later on followed by different disordered crystals) were found to universally exhibit low-temperature properties (specific heat, thermal conductivity, acoustic and dielectric attenuation, etc.) unexpectedly very similar among them - and very different from those of their crystalline counterparts.These universal 'anomalies' of glasses and other disordered solids remain very controversial topics in condensed matter physics. They have been addressed exhaustively in this book, through many updated experimental data, a survey of most relevant models and theories, as well as by computational simulations.

The first part of this book overviews the physics of lasers and describes some of the more common types of lasers and their applications. Applications of lasers include CD/DVD players, laser printers and fiber optic communication devices. Part II of this book describes the phenomenon of Bose-Einstein condensation. The experimental techniques used to create a Bose-Einstein condensate provide an interesting and unconventional application of lasers; that is, the cooling and confinement of a dilute gas at very low temperature.

Handbook of Natural Polymers, Volume One: Sources, Synthesis, and Characterization is a comprehensive resource covering extraction and processing methods for polymers from natural sources, with an emphasis on the latest advances. Sections cover the current state-of-the-art, challenges and opportunities in natural polymers. Following sections cover extraction, synthesis and characterization methods organized by polymer type. Along with broad chapters discussing approaches to starch-based and polysaccharide-based polymers, dedicated chapters offer in-depth information on nanocellulose, chitin and chitosan, gluten, alginate, natural rubber, gelatin, pectin, lignin, keratin, gutta percha, shellac, silk, wood, casein, albumin, collagen, hemicellulose, polyhydroxyalkanoates, zein, soya protein, and gum. Final chapters explore other key themes, including filler interactions and properties in natural polymer-based composites, biocompatibility and cytotoxicity, and biodegradability, life cycle, and recycling. Throughout the book, information is supported by data, and guidance is offered regarding potential scale-up and industry factors.

Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs): Commercialization Prospects guides the reader through the various steps in the conceptualization, design, preparation and innovative applications of molecularly imprinted polymers while also demystifying the challenges relating to commercialization. Sections cover molecularly imprinted polymers, design, modeling, compositions and material selection. Other sections describe novel methods and discuss the challenges relating to the use of molecularly imprinted polymers in specific application areas. The final chapters of the book explore the current situation in terms of patents and commercialized materials based on MIPs, as well as prospects and possible opportunities. This is a valuable resource for all those with an interest in the development, application, and commercialization of molecularly imprinted polymers, including researchers and advanced students in polymer science, polymer chemistry, nanotechnology, materials science, chemical engineering, and biomedicine, as well as engineers, scientists and R&D professionals with an interest in MIPs for advanced applications.

Phenomena of Optical Metamaterials provides an overview of phenomena enabled by artificial and designed metamaterials and their application for photonic devices. The book explores the study of active metamaterials with tunable and switchable properties and novel functionalities, such as the control of spontaneous emission and enhancement. Topics addressed cover theory, modelling and design, applications in practical devices, fabrication, characterization, and measurement, thus helping readers understand and develop new artificial, functional materials.

Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE): From Research to Mass Production, Second Edition, provides a comprehensive overview of the latest MBE research and applications in epitaxial growth, along with a detailed discussion and 'how to' on processing molecular or atomic beams that occur on the surface of a heated crystalline substrate in a vacuum. The techniques addressed in the book can be deployed wherever precise thin-film devices with enhanced and unique properties for computing, optics or photonics are required. It includes new semiconductor materials, new device structures that are commercially available, and many that are at the advanced research stage. This second edition covers the advances made by MBE, both in research and in the mass production of electronic and optoelectronic devices. Enhancements include new chapters on MBE growth of 2D materials, Si-Ge materials, AIN and GaN materials, and hybrid ferromagnet and semiconductor structures.

It used to be difficult to reliably fabricate clean heterostructures using magnetic and superconducting layers. Today this is no longer the case; such reproducible superconductor/ferromagnet heterostructures enable the quantitative study of the rich and varied phenomena associated with ferromagnet/superconductor proximity effects. These structures are eminent, suitable candidates for many switching devices, ranging from non-volatile low power memory elements to quantum computing applications involving Josephson junctions.This book's main purpose is to explain how the equilibrium and transport properties of these heterostructures can be accurately calculated starting from a standard BCS type Hamiltonian. The main techniques, including both analytical and numerical methods, are discussed in detail. Results obtained from these calculations are shown to be in excellent quantitative agreement with experiment.This is a theory book, but the theory is neither abstruse nor esoteric. Knowledge of only introductory graduate physics has been assumed; a solid undergraduate training and a bit of perseverance would also be enough. This book can easily be read and understood by experimentalists, and just about anybody can grasp the basics by referring to the figures and explanations. Quite apart from the manifold applications of superconductor/ferromagnet nanostructures, studying them provides us with considerable insights into fundamental physics and the general study of hybrid nanomaterials.

In the last years there have been great advances in the applications of topology and differential geometry to problems in condensed matter physics. Concepts drawn from topology and geometry have become essential to the understanding of several phenomena in the area. Physicists have been creative in producing models for actual physical phenomena which realize mathematically exotic concepts and new phases have been discovered in condensed matter in which topology plays a leading role. An important classification paradigm is the concept of topological order, where the state characterizing a system does not break any symmetry, but it defines a topological phase in the sense that certain fundamental properties change only when the system passes through a quantum phase transition. The main purpose of this book is to provide a brief, self-contained introduction to some mathematical ideas and methods from differential geometry and topology, and to show a few applications in condensed matter. It conveys to physicists the basis for many mathematical concepts, avoiding the detailed formality of most textbooks.

Statistical Thermodynamics of Semiconductor Alloys is the consideration of thermodynamic properties and characteristics of crystalline semiconductor alloys by the methods of statistical thermodynamics. The topics presented in this book make it possible to solve such problems as calculation of a miscibility gap, a spinodal decomposition range, a short-range order, deformations of crystal structure, and description of the order-disorder transitions. Semiconductor alloys, including doped elemental semiconductors are the basic materials of solid-state electronics. Their structural stability and other characteristics are key to determining the reliability and lifetime of devices, making the investigation of stability conditions an important part of semiconductor physics, materials science, and engineering. This book is a guide to predicting and studying the thermodynamic properties and characteristics of the basic materials of solid-state electronics.