One of the most interesting developments in composite materials technology during the past decade has been the attempt to displace thermosetting resins from their position as the natural matrix in 'advanced' composites for sUl;h fields as aerospace. Dr McMahon gives some indication of the nature of this challenge in his chapter on fibre-reinforced thermoplastics. He acknowledges the problem of their low fibre contents, with the associated possibility of inadequate mechanical properties, especially in compression; and draws attention to the way in which the lack of suitable teSI methods for composites in compression has caused difficulties in assessing the latest thermoplastics composites in this respect. It is therefore of special interest that Professor Piggott deals with the whole question of compression tesllflg of composites in Chapter 4. On the positive side, reinforced thermoplastics seem to be much more damage-tolerant than thermosets. This is clearly an advantage that will not be lost on the aircraft industry. The subject of damage repair to FRP is one of substantial concern; the wider question of defect detection and assessment is discussed authoritatively by Reifsnider and Henneke in Chapter 3, which focuses on the technique of thermography.

The term "alloy" as pertaining to polymers has become an increasingly popular description of composites of polymers, parti cularly since the publication of the first volume in this series in 1977. Polymer alloy refers to that class of macromolecular materials which, in general, consists of combinations of chemically different polymers. The polymers involved in these combinations may be hetero geneous (multiphase) or homogeneous (single phase). They may be linked together with covalent bonds between the component polymers (block copolymers, graft copolymers), linked topologically with no covalent bonds (interpenetrating polymer networks), or not linked at all except physically (polyblends). In addition, they may be linear (thermoplastic), crosslinked (thermosetting), crystalline, or amorphous, although the latter is more common. To the immense satisfaction - but not surprise - of the editors, there has been no decrease in the research and development of polymer alloys since the publication of the first volume, as evidenced by numerous publications, conferences and symposia. Continued advances in polymer technology caused by the design of new types of polymer alloys have also been noted. This technolog ical interest stems from the fact that these materials very often exhibit a synergism in properties achievable only by the formation of polymer alloys. The classic examples, of course, are the high impact plastics, which are either polyblends, block, or graft co polymers composed of a rubbery and a glassy polymer. Interpene trating polymer networks (IPN's) of such polymers also exhibit the same, or even greater, synergism."

This book presents the analysis of up-to-date techniques used for the determination of acid-base properties in view of their applicability to examination of solid organic and inorganic surfaces. The studies have been carried out by the authors since 1993, showing experimental data on surface properties of more than 150 polymers, such as carbocatenary and heterochain polymers, copolymers and their blends, as well as different epoxy and rubber compositions used in adhesive joints. The adhesive ability of metal-polymer systems based on epoxy compositions, polyolefins, and rubbers was studied as a function of absolute difference in acid-base properties of adhesive and adherends, and the possibility to predict adhesive interaction on this basis was experimentally verified. The book shows the important role that acid-base interactions play in establishing interfacial adhesive-adherent contact and outlines practical recommendations regarding parameters of quantitative estimation of acid-base surface properties that implies the relationship with adhesive ability in polymer-metal systems. Creating polymeric materials with greater strength characteristics when in contact with metals is the most important problem when adhesive joints are designed. The authors obtained experimental data for thermodynamic and acid-base properties of about 200 organic and inorganic surfaces that find a wide practical application. These results may be used as a reference source to predict the adhesive ability of different coating systems. The possibility to predict adhesive interaction of adhesive with adherend, taking into account the absolute difference in their acidity and basicity, was verified experimentally.

According to Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe's (1740-1832) Mineralogy and Geology, "The history of science is science." A sesquicentennial later, one may state that the history of high performance polymers is the science of these important engineering polymers. Many of the inventors of these superior materials of construction have stood on the thresholds of the new and have recounted their experiences (trials, tribulations and satisfactions) in the symposium and in their chapters in this book. Those who have not accepted the historical approach in the past, should now recognize the value of the historical viewpoint for studying new developments, such as general purpose polymers and, to a greater degree, the high performance polymers. To put polymer science into its proper perspective, its worth recalling that historically, the ages of civilization have been named according to the materials that dominated that period. First there was the Stone Age eventually followed by the Tin, Bronze, Iron and Steel Ages. Today many historians consider us living in the Age of Synthetics: Polymers, Fibers, Plastics, Elastomers, Films, Coatings, Adhesives, etc. It is also interesting to note that in the early 1980's, Lord Todd, then President of the Royal Society of Chemistry was asked what has been chemistry's biggest contribution to society. He felt that despite all the marvelous medical advances, chemistry's biggest contribution was the development of polymeri zation. Man's knowledge of polymer science is so new that Professor Herman F."

This book details original, theoretical, and important experimental results that use non-routine methodologies often unfamiliar to most readers. It also includes papers on novel applications of more familiar experimental techniques and analyses of composite problems. The book provides comprehensive coverage on the latest developments of research in the ever-expanding area of composite materials and their applications to broad scientific fields spanning physics, chemistry, biology, materials, and more.

Most practitioners and students of polymer chemistry are familiar, in general terms at least, with the established methods of polymer synthesis - radical, anionic, cationic and coordination addition polymerization, and stepwise con densation and rearrangement polymerization. These methods are used to synthesize the majority of polymers used in the manufacture of commercially important plastics, fibres, resins and rubbers, and are covered in most introduc tory polymer chemistry textbooks and in most undergraduate and graduate courses on polymer science. Fewer polymer chemists, however, have much familiarity with more recent developments in methods of polymer synthesis, unless they have been specifically involved for some time in the synthesis of speciality polymers. These developments include not only refinements to established methods but also new mechanisms of polymerization, such as group transfer and metathesis polymerization and novel non-polymerization routes to speciality polymers involving, for example, the chemical modification of preformed polymers or the linking together of short terminally functionalized blocks.

Honolulu is a most beautiful place, suitable for all occa sions. Its choice as the meeting site for the first Joint Chemical Congress between the American Chemical SOCiety and the Chemical Society of Japan was praised by scientists from both sides. During this Congress, the International Conference on Adhesion and Adsorption of Polymers was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel between April 2 and 5, 1979. We had speakers from ten nations presenting over forty papers related to the subject matter. It was a memorable event. Unlike our two previous adhesion symposia held in 1971 and 1975, this was the first time in the same conference that we discussed both adhesion and adsorption of polymers simultaneously. These two important phenomena are not only inter-related, but also equally important in adhesive technology as well as biochemical processes. The papers presented to this Conference deal with these two phenomena from both fundamental and practical viewpoints. Furthermore, with the advance of new surface analytical techniques, the actual, microscopic happenings at the interfaces can be pin pointed. Thus, characterization of interface became one of the major focuses of this Conference. As a result, a broad coverage of the subject matter includes statistical thermodynamics, surface physics, surface analysis, fracture mechaniCS, viscoelasticity, failure analysis, surface modification, adsorption kinetics, bio polymer adsorption, etc. Thanks to the diligence of our contri butors, we are now able to publish the final papers in these two volumes."

The aim of the Rolduc Polymer Meetings is to stimulate interdisciplinary discussions between academic and industrial polymer scientists and engineers. Experts are invited to review selected topics and to initiate discussions relating to future trends and developments. The general theme of these meetings is 'Integration of Fundamental Polymer Science and Technology'. In order to serve this goal, all participants are accommodated in Rolduc Abbey, a well-preserved medieval monument in Limburg (The Netherlands) to provide an optimum atmosphere for the exchange of ideas. About 350 participants took part in the 4th Rolduc Polymer Meeting, which was held from 23 to 27 April 1989. This volume contains invited and selected contributed papers on topics such as solution properties, chemistry, emulsion polymerization, liquid crystalline polymers, structure/ morphology and blends/composites. We are fully aware of the fact that the reader will not find an integrated presentation of lectures in this volume. Unfortunately, it is impossible to put down in writing the atmosphere of this and previous meetings. However, we hope that the reader will be stimulated to present his own views in forthcoming meetings after reading these proceedings. We wish to thank all contributors to this volume. P.l.L.

Over the years the field of anionic polymerization has attracted numerous outstanding scientists, and today it still is being pursued by many researchers all over the world. The exciting discovery of termination-less polymerization processes and living polymers culminating in the development of narrow molecular weight polymers, star polymers, and tailor-made block and graft copolymers, contributed immensely to the rapid expansion of polymer science. Areas of active research in anionic polymerization presently include the structure of ion pairs and their role in regulating polymer structure, ring opening polymerization of heterocyclic monomers, synthesis of well-defined block and graft copolymers including the application of macromers in such systems, telechelic polymers with functional end groups, and other topics. New developments in the organic chemistry of carbanions such as dipolar carbanions impinge on the field of anionic polymerization. More sophisticated characterization techniques have been instrumental in obtaining better correlations between the structure of polymers and that of intermediates leading to their formation. This book contains the proceedings of the international symposium on "Recent Advances in Anionic Polymerization and Related Processes" which was held at the 1986 spring meeting of the American Chemical Society. It was the first Polymer Division-sponsored meeting exclusively devoted to anionic polymerization since the Houston ACS meeting in the spring of 1980. The proceedings of that meeting were published in the book "Anionic Polymerization," ACS Symposium Series No. 166, edited by Dr. J. E. McGrath.

The Rolduc Polymer Meetings, of which the contents of this volume represent the third, are already on their way to occupying a unique place in the crowded calendar of symposia on every aspect of polymer science and engineering. They combine manageable meeting size with a theme, 'Integration of Fundamental Polymer Science and Technology', which is often discussed but seldom realized in practice. The technological, or applied, areas of polymers have perhaps received more emphasis historically than those of other allied disciplines. Indeed, various plastic and rubber materials were successful items of commerce long before the macromolecular concept itself was firmly established. The more fundamental aspects of the field were also largely developed in industrial laboratories. The early work of Mark and Meyer at IG Farben, and that of Carrothers and Flory at Du Pont, are good examples of this. The present situation, in which polymers are being applied to more and more demanding end uses, from high performance materials on the one hand to the biomedical and electronics fields on the other, caIls for an ever greater understanding of the basic scientific principles governing their behavior. It is evident, therefore, that interactions between those engaged in the 'pure' and 'applied' parts of the field must be promoted effectively. The Rolduc Polymer Meetings contribute significantly to such interactions, not only by interweaving technological and scientific presentations, but also by providing a forum for the participants to discuss problems of mutual interest in all their complexity.

Pedagogical Cases in Physical Education and Youth Sport is a completely new kind of resource for students and practitioners working in physical education or youth sport. The book consists of 20 richly described cases of individual young learners, each written by a team of authors with diverse expertise from across the sport, exercise and movement sciences. These cases bring together knowledge from single sub-disciplines into new interdisciplinary knowledge to inform best practice in physical education, teaching and coaching in youth sport settings. At the heart of each case is an individual young person of a specified age and gender, with a range of physical, social and psychological characteristics. Drawing on current research, theory and empirical data from their own specialist discipline, each chapter author identifies the key factors they feel should be taken into account when attempting to teach or coach the young person described. These strands are then drawn together at the end of each chapter and linked to current research from the sport pedagogy literature, to highlight the implications for planning and evaluating teaching or coaching sessions. No other book offers such a rich, vivid and thought-provoking set of pedagogical tools for understanding and working with children and young people in sport. This is an essential resource for any student on a physical education, coaching, kinesiology or sport science course, and for any teacher, coach or instructor working in physical education or youth sport.

Plastics have become increasingly important in the products used in our society, ranging from housing to packaging, transportation, business machines and especially in medicine and health products. Designing plastic parts for this wide range of uses has become a major activity for designers, architects, engineers, and others who are concerned with product development. Because plastics are unique materials with a broad range of proper ties they are adaptable to a variety of uses. The uniqueness of plastics stems from their physical characteristics which are as different from metals, glasses, and ceramics as these materials are different from each other. One major concern is the design of structures to take loads. Metals as well as the other materials are assumed to respond elastically and to recover completely their original shape after the load is removed. Based on this simple fact, extensive litera ture on applied mechanics of materials has been developed to enable designers to predict accurately the performance of structures under load. Many engineers depend on such texts as Timoshenko's Strength of Materials as a guide to the performance of structures. Using this as a guide, generations of engineers have designed economical and safe structural parts. Unfortunately, these design principles must be modified when designing with plastics since they do not respond elastically to stress and undergo permanent deformation with sus tained loading."

Biological and Synthetic Polymer Networks contains 36 papers selected from the papers presented at NETWORKS 86, the 8th Polymer Networks Group Meeting. NETWORKS 86 was held in Elsinore, Denmark, on 31 August 5 September 1986. A total of nine invited main lectures and 68 contributed papers were presented at the meeting. A wide range of important biological and synthetic materials consist of three-dimensional polymer networks. The properties range from very stiff structural materials to extremely flexible rubbery materials and gels. Most polymer networks are permanent networks held together by covalent bonds. Such networks are insoluble but they may swell considerably in good solvents. Polymer networks held together by ionic bonds, hydrogen bonds or so-called entanglements are of a more temporary nature. At long times they exhibit a tendency to flow, and they are soluble in good solvents. The paper by Professor Walther Burchard and his co-workers, 'Covalent, Thermoreversible and Entangled Networks: An Attempt at Comparison', serves as a general introduction to polymer networks. The book contains both theoretical and experimental papers on the formation, characterisation and properties of polymer networks. Two topics were given special sessions at the meeting, namely Biological Networks and Swelling of Polymer Networks.

Block copolymers represent an important class of multi-phase material, which have received very widespread attention, particularly since their successful commercial development in the mid-1960s. Much of the interest in these polymers has arisen because of their rather remarkable micro phase morphology and, hence, they have been the subject of extensive microstructural examination. In many respects, the quest for a comprehensive interpretation of their structure, both theoretically and experimentally, has not been generally matched by a corresponding enthusiasm for developing structure/property relationships in the context of their commercial application. Indeed, it has been left largely to the industrial companies involved in the development and utilization of these materials to fulfil this latter role. While it is generally disappointing that a much greater synergism does not exist between science and technology, it is especially sad in the case of block copolymers. Thus these materials offer an almost unique opportunity for the application of fundamental structural and property data to the interpretation of the properties of generally processed artefacts. Accordingly, in this book, the editor has drawn together an eminent group of research workers, with the specific intention of highlighting some of those aspects of the science and technology of block copolymers that are potentially important if further advances are to be made either in material formulation or utilization. For example, special consideration is given to the relationship between the flow properties of block copo lymers and their microstructure."

The purpose of the present series of publications is two-fold. In the first place it is intended to review progress in the development of practical stabilising systems for a wide range of polymers and applications. A complementary and ultimately more important objec tive is to accommodate these practical developments within the framework of antioxidant theory, since there can be little question that further major advances in the practice of stabilisation technology will only be possible on the basis of a firm mechanistic foundation. Research into the role of 'stable' free radicals as antioxidants and stabilisers for polymers has intensified in recent years. Nitroxyl radicals (nitroxides) were the earliest long-lived radicals to be investi gated in detail and Maslov and Zaikov review the developments that have taken place in understanding their reaction mechanisms from the time when they were first investigated in liquid hydrocarbon systems to the present day when their outstanding performance as light stabilisers has been the object of much scientific research. Although some features of their reactivity remain obscure, the authors approach the problem kinetically and indicate the factors limiting their effectiveness."

During the last two decades, the production of polymers and plastics has been increasing rapidly. In spite of developing new polymers and polymeric materials, only 40-60 are used commercially on a large scale. It has been estimated that half of the annual production of polymers is employed outdoors. Increasing the stability of polymers and plastics towards heat, light, atmospheric oxygen and other environmental agents and weathering conditions has always been a very important problem. The photochemical instability of most of polymers limits them to outdoor application, where they are photo degraded fast over periods ranging from months to a few years. To the despair of technologists and consumers alike, photodegrada tion and environmental ageing of polymers occur much faster than can be expected from knowledge collected in laboratories. In many cases, improved methods of preparation and purification of both monomers and polymers yield products of better quality and higher resistance to heat and light. However, without stabilization of polymers by applica tion of antioxidants (to decrease thermal oxidative degradation) and photostabilizers (to decrease photo-oxidative degradation) it would be impossible to employ polymers and plastics in everyday use.

Understanding the dynamics of reactive polymer processes allows scientists to create new, high value, high performance polymers. Chemorheology of Polymers provides an indispensable resource for researchers and practitioners working in this area, describing theoretical and industrial approaches to characterising the flow and gelation of reactive polymers. Beginning with an in-depth treatment of the chemistry and physics of thermoplastics, thermoset and reactive polymers, the core of the book focuses on fundamental characterization of reactive polymers, rheological (flow characterization) techniques and the kinetic and chemorheological models of these systems. Uniquely, the coverage extends to a complete review of the practical industrial processes used for these polymers and an insight into the current chemorheological models and tools used to describe and control each process. This book will appeal to polymer scientists working on reactive polymers within materials science, chemistry and chemical engineering departments as well as polymer process engineers in industry.

In a unified treatment for the broad subject of materials, this book presents some fascinating phenomena associated with the remarkable performance of polymers and chemical materials. It provides a comprehensive description of the applications and tools for chemical polymeric materials. It also includes the background information necessary for assimilating the current academic literature on complex materials and their applications.

'Integration of Fundamental Polymer Science and Technology' is a theme that admits of countless variations. It is admirably exemplified by the scientific work of R. Koningsveld and C. G. Vonk, in whose honour this meeting was organized. The interplay between 'pure' and 'applied' is of course not confined to any particular subdiscipline of chemistry or physics (witness the name IUPAC and IUPAP) but is perhaps rarely so intimate and inevitable as in the macromolecular area. The historical sequence may vary: when the first synthetic dye was prepared by Perkin, considerable knowledge of the molecular structure was also at hand; but polymeric materials, both natural and synthetic, had achieved a fair practical technology long before their macromolecular character was appreciated or established. Such historical records have sometimes led to differences of opinion as to whether the pure or the applied arm should deserve the first place of honour. The Harvard physiologist Henderson, as quoted in Walter Moore's Physical Chemistry, averred that 'Science owes more to the steam engine than the steam engine owes to Science'. On the other hand, few would dispute the proposition that nuclear power production could scarcely have preceded the laboratory observations of Hahn and Strassmann on uranium fission. Whatever history may suggest, an effective and continuous working relationship must recognize the essential contributions, if not always the completely smooth meshing, of both extremes.

Any series with a title beginning Developments in. . . is obviously intended to report innovatory and novel ideas. The trouble with innovatory thinking is that it often seems too esoteric for practical people to bother with. Certainly, this book is not meant primarily to be a quick-reference manual for fabricators. Its purpose is rather to signal the kind of developments which almost certainly will impinge on the world of reinforced plastics in, say, four or five years' time. In this particular volume most of the authors have directly or indirectly addressed the practical problems of processing and fabrica tion with reinforced plastics. There has been no attempt to review the current state-of-the-art of producing fabricated articles in reinforced plastics by such techniques as filament winding or pultrusion because these subjects have already been well covered elsewhere. Nor have I even tried to provide a comprehensive survey of all that could be called new in this field. Instead, I have simply taken a number of important and somewhat underestimated topics, generally material orientated rather than machine-centred, and asked leading figures to summarise the scene. At the risk of appearing arbitrary let us consider the first chapter by Cattanach and Cogswell. They tell us how a new material has been produced which not only adds to the range of composites available, it makes possible new fabrication processes (at least, new to FRP). Consequently it should result ultimately in many new markets and products. The opportunities are lucidly and imagina tively set out."

Over two decades ago, !he term characterisation covered just those techniques which measured the properties of polymers in solution in order to determine molecular weight and size. The discoveries of stereoregular polymers and polymer crystals created the need for new and advanced techniques for characterising chain structures and bulk properties. Further demands for new and improved characterisation methods for bulk polymers have resulted from the recent development and exploitation of multi phase polymeric systems, such as polymer blends, block and graft copolymers, and polymer composites. Today, therefore, characterisation is a very important part of polymer science. The polymer chemist must know the chain length, chain microstructure and chain conformation of the polymers he or she has prepared, i. e. the determination of molecular properties. The scientist involved in exploiting polymers in such applications as plastics, elastomers, fibres, surface coatings and adhesives must be informed on the morphology and physical and mechanical behaviour of his or her products, i. e. the determination of bulk and surface properties and their dependence on molecular properties. The techniques required for these determinations now cover an extremely wide field. Our aim has been to review a number of techniques critically and in sufficient depth so that the present state and future potential of each technique may be judged by the reader. Three criteria were used in the selection of techniques. First, we wished to present new methods which have been developed actively in the polymer field during the past five years.

Polymer science has matured into a fully accepted branch of materials science. This means that it can be described as a 'chain of knowledge' (Manfred Gordon), the beads of the chain representing all the topics that have to be studied in depth if the relationship between the structure of the molecules synthesized and the end-use properties of the material they constitute is to be understood. The term chain indicates the connectivity of the beads, i.e. the multidisciplinary approach required to achieve the aim, knowledge, here defined as quantitative understanding of the relationship mentioned above in all its parts. Quite a few conferences are being held at which the disciplinar beads themselves are discussed in detail, and new results within their framework are presented. In this respect, the TUPAC Microsymposia in Prague have made themselves indispensable, to mention one successful example. The bi annual TUPAC Symposia on Macromolecules, on the other hand, supply interdisciplinary meeting places, which have the advantage and the disadvantage of a large attendance. Smaller-size conferences of a similar nature can often be found on a national level. The organizers of the young, but already well-appreciated, Rolduc Meetings on the interplay between fundamental science and technology in the polymer field struck an interesting chord' when they realized that focussing on the basic science behind technological problems would serve the purpose of concentration on insight along the chain of knowledge and avoid the surrender to too large a size for the meeting to really be a meeting."

Because of the sheer size of the plastics industry, the title Developments in Plastics Technology now covers an incredibly wide range of subjects or topics. No single volume can survey the whole field in any depth and so what follows is therefore a series of chapters on selected topics. The topics were selected by us, the editors, because of their immediate relevance to the plastics industry. When one considers the materials produced and used by the modern plastics industry, there is a tendency to think of the commodity thermoplastics (such as poly(vinyl chloride) or polyethylene); the thermosetting materials are largely ignored. Because of this attitude we are very pleased to include in this volume a chapter which deals with the processing of a thermosetting material, i.e. the pultrusion of glass reinforced polyester. The extrusion of plastics is, of course, a very important subject but an aspect which is often overlooked is the need to remove volatile matter during processing: for this reason we have included a chapter on devolatilisation. Current industrial practice is towards materials modification and this attitude is reflected in the chapters on the transformation of ethylene vinyl acetate polymers and the use of wollastonite in two important thermoplastics. When assessing the performance of materials, there is a tendency to concentrate on short-term mechanical tests and ignore such topics as fatigue and longer-term testing. We are therefore very pleased to include a chapter on this subject.

"Biopolymers Reuse, Recycling and Disposal" is the first book covering all aspects of biopolymer waste management and post-usage scenarios, embracing existing technologies, applications, and the behavior of biopolymers in various waste streams.

The book investigates the benefits and weaknesses, social, economic and environmental impacts, and regulatory aspects of each technology. It covers different types of recycling and degradation, as well as life cycle analysis, all supported by case studies, literature references, and detailed information about global patents. Patents in particular comprising 80% of published technical literature in this emerging field, widely scattered, and often available in Japanese only are a key source of information.

Dr. Niaounakis draws on disciplines such as polymer science, management, biology and microbiology, organic chemistry, environmental chemistry, and patent law to produce a reference guide for engineers, scientists and other professionals involved in the development and production of biopolymers, waste management, and recycling. This information is also valuable for regulators, patent attorneys and academics working in this field.
Explores techniques and technologies involved in managing biopolymers in the waste stream, including recycling and upcyclingProvides waste management and recycling professionals the knowledge they need to plan for the exponential growth in biopolymer wasteHelps engineers and product designers fully consider the end-of-life aspects of their environmentally sustainable 'green' products and solutions"