A comprehensive encyclopaedic dictionary on polymer technology with expanded entries - trade name and trade marks, list of abbreviations and property tables.

One of the major challenges of science in the last few years of the second millennium is learning how to design materials which can fulfill specific tasks. Ambitious as it may be, the possibilities of success are not ne li ble provided that all the different expertises merge to overcome the limits of eXIsting disciplines and forming new paradigms science. The NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "Magnetic Molecular Materials" was organized with the above considerations in mind in order to determine which are the most appropriate synthetic strategies, experimental techniques of investigation, and theoretical models which are needed in order to develop new classes of magnetic materials which are based on molecules rather than on metallic or ionic lattices. Why molecules? The answer may be obvious: molecular chemistry in principle fine can tune the structures and the properties of complex aggregates, and nature already provides a large number of molecular aggregates which can perform the most disparate functions. The contributions collected in this book provide a rather complete view of the current research accomplishments of magnetic molecular materials. There are several different synthetic approaches which are followed ranging from purely organic to inorganic materials. Some encouraging successes have already been achieved, even if the critical temperatures below which magnetic order is observed still are in the range requiring liquid helium.

This volume consists of the state-of-the-art reports on new developments in micromechanics and the modeling of nanoscale effects, and is a companion book to the recent Kluwer volume on nanomechanics and mul- scale modeling (it is entitled Trends in Nanoscale Mechanics). The two volumes grew out of a series of discussions held at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC), lectures and other events shared by many researchers from the national research laboratories and academia. The key events include the 2001 Summer Series of Round-Table Discussions on Nanotechnology at ICASE Institute (NASA LaRC) organized by Drs. V. M. Harik and M. D. Salas and the 2002 NASA LaRC Workshop on Multi-scale Modeling. The goal of these interactions was to foster collaborations between academic researchers and the ICASE Institute (NASA LaRC), a universi- based institute, which has pioneered world-class computational, theoretical and experimental research in the disciplines that are important to NASA. Editors gratefully acknowledge help of Ms. E. Todd (ICASE, NASA LaRC), the ICASE Director M. D. Salas and all reviewers, in particular, Dr. B. Diskin (ICASE/NIA, NASA LaRC), Prof. R. Haftka (University of Florida), Dr. V. M. Harik (ICASE/Swales Aerospace, NASA LaRC), Prof.

Readers intent on mastering the basics should start by reading the first few overview chapters and then delve into the descriptions of specific current applications to see how they actually work. Important future applications are also outlined, including information storage, materials for computer memories, quantum computers, isotopic fibers, isotopic optoelectronics, and quantum electronics.

Low dielectric constant materials are an important component of microelectronic devices. This comprehensive book covers the latest low-dielectric-constant (low-k) materials technology, thin film materials characterization, integration and reliability for back-end interconnects and packaging applications in microelectronics. Highly informative contributions from leading academic and industrial laboratories provide comprehensive information about materials technologies for < 0.18 um process technology. Topics include: Organic dielectric materials, Inorganic dielectric materials, Composite dielectric materials, Metrology and characterization techniques, Integration, Reliability. This volume will be an invaluable resource for professionals, scientists, researchers and graduate students involved in dielectric technology development, materials science, polymer science, and semiconductor devices and processing.

Spectroscopy of Defects in Organic Crystals presents a masterly summary of the widespread and voluminous literature on the subject, presenting theoretical and experimental investigations of electron and vibronic optical spectra of organic crystals. Electronic states of defects combine to form crystal near-to-band and band levels. These are discrete states in the vicinity of exciton bands, surface and dislocational excitons, etc. Some studies have expressed dissimilar or even conflicting opinions about the nature of observed phenomena. In the choice of the material, preference has been given to phenomena which have received a theoretical interpretation. Some attention is paid to observations which are not completely understood and also to effects predicted but not yet confirmed. The monograph will be useful for scientists as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students of solid state physics.

Commercially successful fully synthetic polymeric materials were pro duced in the early years of this century, the first example being Bakelite. This was made from phenol and formaldehyde by Leo Bakeland in 1909. Before the end of the 1920s, a large number of other synthetic polymers had been created, including polyvinyl chloride and urea-formaldehyde. Today, there are literally hundreds of synthetic polymers commercially available with ranges of properties making them suitable for applications in many industrial sectors, including the electrical and electronics industries. In many instances the driving force behind the development of new materials actually came from the electronics industry, and today's advanced electronics would be inconceivable without these materials. For many years polymers have been widely used in all sectors of the electronics industry. From the early days of the semiconductor industry to the current state of the art, polymers have provided the enabling technologies that have fuelled the inexorable and rapid development of advanced electronic and optoelectronic devices."

In the ten years since the scientific rationale for the design, synthesis and application of inorganic and organometallic polymers (IOPs) was first conceptualised, we have witnessed the first tentative exploration of IOPs as precursors to new materials, with efforts focusing on the design and synthesis of novel ceramic precursors. Developing expertise led to precursor studies combined with the characterisation of the transformation processes that occur when IOPs are converted to ceramic materials. Now at maturity, the science presented in this volume reveals the polymer precursor approach to materials synthesis together with examples of processing ceramic shapes for a range of mechanical properties, the development of sophisticated, noninvasive analytical techniques, and IOP design rationales relying on well-defined processing-property relationships. The production of multifunctional IOPs is described, providing ion conductivity, gas sensing, bioactivity, magnetic properties, etc., combined with processability. The existence of well-defined IOPs and the exquisite control that can be exerted on sol-gel systems now provide access to such a variety of mixed organic-organometallic and/or inorganic hybrid systems that their exploitation is likely to develop into an entirely new field of materials chemistry. Future exciting avenues of research are also being opened up with the advent of buckyballs, Met-Cars, dopable preceramics, rigid-rod organometallics, and molecular tinkertoys.

The 41st Annual Conference on Applications of X-Ray Analysis was held August 2-6, 1993, at the Sheraton Denver Technical Center Hotel, Denver, Colorado. From its modest beginnings in the early 1950's, the Denver X-Ray Conference has grown to become a major venue in the national scientific calendar, with an ever-growing overseas participation. The 1993 Conference was the latest of these annual gatherings of x-ray analysts, who come together to discuss topics of current interest in diffraction and fluorescence. As the size and flavor of the Conference has changed over the years, so too have the methods and techniques of x-ray materials analysis matured. Science is advanced by the creativity of a few and the mistakes of many. It is important, therefore, that from time to time we sit back and reflect on how we got where we are, and where we are likely to go next. There has been no greater impact on the field than the introduction of the digital computer, and the Plenary Session of the 1993 Conference, "Impact of the PC in X-Ray Analysis," was designed to reflect on the role of the personal computer in the metamorphosis of x-ray instrumentation and techniques. Since the personal computer is a creation of non-x-ray specialists, we, as a group, have simply attached ourselves to the coat-tails of experts and developers in the PC field and taken advantage of new computer systems as and when they were developed.

Micro/nanotribology as a field is concerned with experimental and theoretical investigations of processes ranging from atomic and molecular scales to the microscale, occurring during adhesion, friction, wear, and thin-film lubrication at sliding surfaces. As a field it is truly interdisciplinary, but this confronts the would-be entrant with the difficulty of becoming familiar with the basic theories and applications: the area is not covered in any undergraduate or graduate scientific curriculum. The present work commences with a history of tribology and micro/nanotribology, followed by discussions of instrumentation, basic theories of friction, wear and lubrication on nano- to microscales, and their industrial applications. A variety of research instruments are covered, including a variety of scanning probe microscopes and surface force apparatus. Experimental research and modelling are expertly dealt with, the emphasis throughout being applied aspects.

This volume entitled Advanced Science and Technology of Sintering, contains the edited Proceedings of the Ninth World Round Table Conference on Sintering (IX WRTCS), held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, September 1-4 1998. The gathering was one in a series of World Round Table Conferences on Sintering organised every four years by the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SASA) and the International Institute for the Science of Sintering (IISS). The World Round Table Conferences on Sintering have been traditionally held in Yugoslavia. The first meeting was organised in Herceg Novi in 1969 and since then they have regularly gathered the scientific elite in the science of sintering. It is not by chance that, at these conferences, G. C. Kuczynski, G. V. Samsonov, R. Coble, Ya. E. Geguzin and other great names in this branch of science presented their latest results making great qualitative leaps in the its development. Belgrade hosted this conference for the first time. It was chosen as a reminder that 30 years ago it was the place where the International Team for Sintering was formed, further growing into the International Institute for the Science of Sintering. The IX WRTCS lasted four days. It included 156 participants from 17 countries who presented the results of their theoretical and experimental research in 130 papers in the form of plenary lectures, oral presentations and poster sections.

Ordered intermetallics constitute a unique class of metallic materials which may be developed as new-generation materials for structural use at high temperatures in hostile environments. At present, there is a worldwide interest in intermetallics, and extensive efforts have been devoted to intermetallic research and development in the U.S., Japan, European countries, and other nations. As a result, significant advances have been made in all areas of intermetallic research. This NATO Advanced Workshop on ordered intermetallics (1) reviews the recent progress, and (2) assesses the future direction of intermetallic research in the areas of electronic structure and phase stability, deformation and fracture, and high-temperature properties. The book is divided into six parts: (1) Electronic Structure and Phase Stability; (2) Deformation and Dislocation Structures; (3) Ductility and Fracture; (4) Kinetic Processes and Creep Behavior; (5) Research Programs and Highlights; and (6) Assessment of Current Research and Recommendation for Future Work. The first four parts review the recent advances in the three focus areas. The fifth part provides highlights of the intermetallic research under major programs and in different institutes and countries. The last part provides a forum for the discussion of research areas for future studies.

Materials metrology is the measurement science used for determining materials property data. An essential element is the symbiosis between the understanding of materials behaviour and the development of suit- able measurement techniques which, through the provision of stand- ards, enable design engineers and plant operators to acquire materials data of appropriate precision. This book is concerned only with those aspects of materials metrology and standards that relate to the design and performance in service ofstructuresand consumerproducts. Itdoes not consider their important role in the processing ofmaterials. Theeditorsare grateful for thecommitmentand patience oftheexperts who contributed the various chapters. In addition, help from staffin the Division ofMaterials Metrology, National Physical Laboratory,inassist- ing with the task of refereeing the chapters is gratefully acknowledged. The production of this book was carried out as part of the Materials Measurement Programme of underpinning research financed by the United Kingdom Department ofTrade and Industry. Brian F. Dyson Malcolm S. Loveday MarkG. Gee Division of Materials Metrology National Physical Laboratory Teddington, TWll OLW UK CHAPTER 1 Materials metrology and standards: an introduction B. F. Dyson, M. S. Loveday and M. G. Gee 1. 1 MATERIALS ASPECTS OF STRUCTURAL DESIGN Knowledge concerning the behaviour of materials has always been vital for the success of manufactured products, but never more so than at the present time.

Adopting an interdisciplinary approach to the chemistry and physics of materials, their biocompatibility, and the consequences of implantation of such devices into the human body, this text introduces readers to the principles of polymer science and the study of metals, ceramics and composites, and also to the basic biology required to understand the nature of the host-transplant interface. Topics covered include the macromolecular components of cells and tissues, self-assembly processes, biological cascade systems, microscopic structure of cells and tissues, immunology, transplantation biology, and the pathobiology of wound healing. The materials science section includes the structures and properties of polymers, metals, ceramics and composites, and the processes for forming materials as well as the pathobiology of devices. The final two chapters deal with tissue engineering and the relations between the biology of cells and tissue transplantation, and the engineering of tissue replacements using passaged cells.

* Metivier is an expert in the field of pdes/math physics, with a particular emphasis on shock waves. * New monograph focuses on mathematical methods, models, and applications of boundary layers, present in many problems of physics, engineering, fluid mechanics. * Metivier has good Birkhauser track record: one of the main authors of "Advances in the Theory of Shock Waves" (Freistuehler/Szepessy, eds, 4187-4). * Manuscript endorsed by N. Bellomo, MSSET series editor...should be a good sell to members of MSSET community, who by-in-large are based in Europe. * Included are self-contained introductions to different topics such as hyperbolic boundary value problems, parabolic systems, WKB methods, construction of profiles, introduction to the theory of Evans' functions, and energy methods with Kreiss' symmetrizers.

During the last decade there has been a renewed interest in under standing from a fundamental point of view the gasification of carbon. Basi cally there are two major issues in controlling the reactivity of carbon: i) reduction of the gasification rate of carbon materials in hostile environment ii) increase of the gasification rate in order to utilize carbonaceous compounds more effectively. Although these two objectives look somewhat contradictory, they are part of the general topics of understanding gasification reactivity of carbon. Refractory applications of carbon in furnace linings, seals and vanes, as well as the use of carbon-carbon or carbon-ceramic composites in struc tures able to withstand corrosion at high temperature require a better understanding of the fundamentals involved in carbon-oxidizing gas (02' CO, H 0) reactions. Furthermore a great interest of aluminium producers 2 2 is 10 extending the lifetime of carbon electrodes in alumina electrolysis which primarily depends on reducing their consumption rates by air or carbon dioxide. Proper control of gasification reactions is also of prime importance in manufacturing carbonaceous adsorbents like granular activated carbon clothes of high adsorption characteristics. The balance between increase of porosity and decrease in mechanical strength during activation is critical for developing new porous types of carbon materials in particular for carbon clothes and this can only be achieved by a careful control of the gasification reaction."

This book is intended to help satisfy an urgent requirement for up-to date comprehensive texts at graduate and senior undergraduate levels on the subjects in non-destructive testing (NDT). The subject matter here is confined to electrical and magnetic methods, with emphasis on the widely used eddy current and magnetic flux leakage methods (including particle inspection), but proper attention is paid to other techniques, such as microwave and AC field applications, which are rapidly growing in importance. Theoretical analyses relating to the various methods are discussed and the depths of presentation are often governed by whether or not the information is readily available elsewhere. Thus, for example, a considerable amount of space is devoted to eddy current theory at what the author considers to be a reasonable standard and not, as usually experienced, in either a too elementary manner or at a level appreciated only by a postgraduate theoretical physicist. The inclusion of the introductory chapter is intended to acquaint the reader with some of the philosophy of NDT and to compare, briefly, the relative performances of the more important methods of testing."

The birth of this monograph is partly due to the persistent efforts of the General Editor, Dr. Klaus Timmerhaus, to persuade the authors that they encapsulate their forty or fifty years of struggle with the thermal properties of materials into a book before they either expired or became totally senile. We recognize his wisdom in wanting a monograph which includes the closely linked properties of heat capacity and thermal expansion, to which we have added a little 'cement' in the form of elastic moduli. There seems to be a dearth of practitioners in these areas, particularly among physics postgraduate students, sometimes temporarily alleviated when a new generation of exciting materials are found, be they heavy fermion compounds, high temperature superconductors, or fullerenes. And yet the needs of the space industry, telecommunications, energy conservation, astronomy, medical imaging, etc. , place demands for more data and understanding of these properties for all classes of materials - metals, polymers, glasses, ceramics, and mixtures thereof. There have been many useful books, including Specific Heats at Low Tempera tures by E. S. Raja Gopal (1966) in this Plenum Cryogenic Monograph Series, but few if any that covered these related topics in one book in a fashion designed to help the cryogenic engineer and cryophysicist. We hope that the introductory chapter will widen the horizons of many without a solid state background but with a general interest in physics and materials.

In this unique volume, renowned experts discuss the applications of fractals in petroleum research-offering an excellent introduction to the subject. Contributions cover a broad spectrum of applications from petroleum exploration to production. Papers also illustrate how fractal geometry can quantify the spatial heterogeneity of different aspects of geology and how this information can be used to improve exploration and production results.

This introductory text develops the fundamental physics of the behavior of granular materials. It covers the basic properties of flow, friction, and fluidization of uniform granular materials; discusses mixing and segregation of heterogeneous materials (the famous "brazil-nut problem"); and concludes with an introduction to numerical models. The presentation begins with simple experiments and uses their results to build concepts and theorems about materials whose behavior is often quite counter-intuitive; presenting in a unified way the background needed to understand current work in the field. Developed for students at the University of Paris, the text will be suitable for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduates; while also being of interest to researchers and engineers just entering the field.

Although polypropylene has been marketed since the 1950s, research and development in this area is still vigorous. The consumption of polypropylene over the years has been relatively high, mainly due to the steady improvement of its property profile. Polypropylene: Structures, Blends and Composites, in three separate volumes, reflects on the key factors which have contributed to the success of polypropylene, dealing with all aspects of structure-performance relationships relevant to thermoplastic polymers and related composites. Volume 1, Structure and Morphology, deals with polymorphism in polypropylene homo- and copolymers, where molecular and supermolecular structures are covered, and the processing-induced structure development of polypropylene, showing the interrelation between the processing-induced morphology and mechanical performance. Volume 2, Copolymers and Blends, contains comprehensive surveys of the nucleation and crystallisation behaviour of the related systems. It includes the development of morphology and its effects on rheological and mechanical properties of polypropylene-based alloys and blends and a review of polypropylene-based thermoplastic elastomers. Volume 3, Composites, gives a comprehensive overview of filled and reinforced systems with polypropylene as a matrix material, with the main emphasis on processing-structure-property-interrelationships. Chapters cover all aspects of particulate filled, chopped fibre-, fibre mat- and continuous fibre-reinforced composites. Interfacial phenomena, such as adhesion, wetting and interfacial crystallisation, are also included as important aspects of this subject.

There were two reasons that induced me to plan and to organize this book, the first was the lack of a text entirely devoted to the subject of gas sensors, notwithstanding some books devoted to the various kind of chemical sensors have recently been published. The second reason was the need of introducing the basic topics of gas detection mechanisms to a growing number of researchers active in research and development laboratories of industries and uni versities. The field of chemical sensors is indeed in fast and consistent growth, as it is proved by the increased number of participants to the congresses that were recently held on this subject, namely the Third Meeting on Chemical Sensors (September 24 - 26, 1990, Cleveland), Transducers' 91 (June 24 - 27, 1991, S. Francisco) and EUROSENSORS V (September 30 - October 3, 1991, Rome). Therefore, this book is mainly intended as a reference text for researchers with a MS degree in physics, chemistry and electrical engineering; it reports the last progresses in the R. & D. and in the technology of gas sensors. I choose to deal specifically with the topic of gas sensors because these devices show a very large number of applications in the domestic and industrial field and they are characterized by a great effort of research and development.

Polymer composites represent materials of great and of continuously growing importance. Their potential for application appears to be limitless. They have been the subject of numerous studies both at academic and industrial levels. Much progress has been made in the incisive formulation of composites; sophisticated methods of property evaluation have been developed in the past decade and many, largely empirical solutions have been proposed to resolve the problem of their long-term performance under typical conditions of use (i. e. the use of silane or titane coupling agents to enhance adhesion within composite materials). Assuredly one of the most essential factors in the performance of these systems is the condition of the interface and interphase among the constituents of a given system. It has become clear that it is the interface/interphase, and the interactions which take place in this part of a system, which determine to a significant degree the initial properties of the material. In order to achieve leadership in the formulation and application of polymer composites, it is evident that in depth understanding of interfacial and interphase phenomena becomes a prerequisite.

Recently, attention has been called to the role that microvascular organization plays in the functional morphology of all organs and tissues, both in normal and pathological conditions. Since its development by Murakami, the corrosion cast method for scanning electron microscopy has come to be considered one of the most efficient means in clarifying the three-dimensional features of the microcirculation of organs and tissues. Scanning Electron Microscopy of Vascular Casts: Methods and Applications was planned to supply fundamental and new information regarding microcirculation studies to general biologists, anatomists, pathologists and clinicians. The contributions to this volume, contain original findings and excellent electron micrographs obtained by using recently improved corrosion cast methods. The rich variety of papers in this book will be useful to many, and will provide both the basic and clinically oriented readers with good ideas, suggestions, and original and worthwhile information.

The potential of supercritical fluid methods is presented in a comprehensive way. On the basis of a careful discussion of physical and chemical principles, the application of this method in process technology is demonstrated.