The fluorine atom, by virtue of its electronegativity, size, and bond strength with carbon, can be used to create compounds with remarkable properties. Small molecules containing fluorine have many positive impacts on everyday life of which blood substitutes, pharmaceuticals, and surface modifiers are only a few examples. Fluoropolymers, too, while traditionally associated with extreme hi- performance applications have found their way into our homes, our clothing, and even our language. A recent American president was often likened to the tribology of PTFE. Since the serendipitous discovery of Teflon at the Dupont Jackson Laboratory in 1938, fluoropolymers have grown steadily in technological and marketplace importance. New synthetic fluorine chemistry, new processes, and new apprec- tion of the mechanisms by which fluorine imparts exceptional properties all contribute to accelerating growth in fluoropolymers. There are many stories of harrowing close calls in the fluorine chemistry lab, especially from the early years, and synthetic challenges at times remain daunting. But, fortunately, modern techniques and facilities have enabled significant strides toward taming both the hazards and synthetic uncertainties. In contrast to past environmental problems associated with fluorocarbon refrigerants, the exceptional properties of fluorine in polymers have great environmental value. Some fluoropolymers are enabling green technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells for automobiles and oxygen-selective membranes for cleaner diesel combustion.

Databook of Curatives and Crosslinkers contains extensive data on the most important curatives and crosslinkers in use today. Forty groups of curatives/crosslinkers are included in the book. They include the following chemical groups of additives: acids, acrylamides, aldehydes, amides, amidoamines, amines, anhydrides, aziridines, borates, epoxy-functionalized polymers, carbamides, carbodiimides, chitosan derivatives, cyanamides, diols, glutarates, glycols, graphene oxide derivatives, hydantoin glycols, hydrazides, hydroxides, hydroxyl-containing moieties, imidazoles, isocyanates, isocyanurates, ketimines, maleimides, melamines, novolacs, peroxides, peroxyketals, phenols, polyols, salts, silanes, siloxanes, thiols, titanates, and ziconium derivatives. In total, 416 additives are included in the book.Information on each additive is divided into five sections: General Information, covering name, CAS #, active matter, amine nitrogen, chemical class, cure schedule, and more, Physical Properties, covering odor, color, density, freezing point, gel time, particle size, thin film set time, and more, Health and Safety, covering autoignition temperature, dermal LD50, exposure limits, flash point, and more, Ecological Properties, covering toxicity to algae, bacteria, and fish, sewage treatment, and more, and Use and Performance, offering information on manufacturers, outstanding properties, and more. To improve navigation throughout the book, four indices have been generated, as follows. The index of curative names is placed at the beginning of the book. Indices of the chemical composition of curatives/crosslinkers, their application for different polymers, and product applications can be found at the end of this book.

Wood-plastic composite (WPC) is a non-recyclable composite material lumber or timber made of recycled plastic and wood wastes which has become one of the most dynamic sectors of the plastics industry in this decade. It is used in numerous applications, such as, outdoor deck floors, railings, fences, landscaping timbers, park benches, window and door frames. This book starts with a brief glimpse at the basic structures and properties of WPCs. Aspects such as surface treatment, machinery used and testing types of WPCs are also covered. The following chapters of the book give a view of foam technology, flame retardant properties and colour retardant properties of WPCs. The way morphology affects or controls the physical and mechanical behaviours of the finished materials is discussed. Finally, the authors give an overview of the applications of wood-plastic composites in daily life. The book may serve as a source book for scientists wishing to work in this field.

This book is designed to fulfill a dual role. On the one hand it provides a description of the rheological behavior of molten poly mers. On the other, it presents the role of rheology in melt processing operations. The account of rheology emphasises the underlying principles and presents results, but not detailed deriva tions of equations. The processing operations are described qualita tively, and wherever possible the role of rheology is discussed quantitatively. Little emphasis is given to non-rheological aspects of processes, for example, the design of machinery. The audience for which the book is intended is also dual in It includes scientists and engineers whose work in the nature. plastics industry requires some knowledge of aspects of rheology. Examples are the polymer synthetic chemist who is concerned with how a change in molecular weight will affect the melt viscosity and the extrusion engineer who needs to know the effects of a change in molecular weight distribution that might result from thermal degra dation. The audience also includes post-graduate students in polymer science and engineering who wish to acquire a more extensive background in rheology and perhaps become specialists in this area. Especially for the latter audience, references are given to more detailed accounts of specialized topics, such as constitutive relations and process simulations. Thus, the book could serve as a textbook for a graduate level course in polymer rheology, and it has been used for this purpose."

Ring-Opening Polymerization of Bicyclic and Spiro Compounds The Development of Well-defined Catalysts for Ring-Opening Olefin Metathesis CaptodativeOlefins in Polymer Chemistry Synthesis and Properties of Fluorinated Diols Synthesis and Properties of Fluorinated Telechelic Monodis- persedCompounds Synthesis and Metal Complexation of Poly(ethyleneimine) and Derivatives Oxidation of Hydrocarbon Polymers

This book was first published in 2007. Polymers exhibit a range of physical characteristics, from rubber-like elasticity to the glassy state. These particular properties are controlled at the molecular level by the mobility of the structural constituents. Remarkable changes in mobility can be witnessed with temperature, over narrow, well defined regions, termed relaxation processes. This is an important, unique phenomenon controlling polymer transition behaviour and is described here at an introductory level. The important types of relaxation processes from amorphous to crystalline polymers and polymeric miscible blends are covered, in conjunction with the broad spectrum of experimental methods used to study them in 2007. In-depth discussion of molecular level interpretation, including atomistic level computer simulations and applications to molecular mechanism elucidation, are discussed. The result is a self-contained approach to polymeric interpretation suitable for researchers in materials science, physics and chemistry interested in the relaxation processes of polymeric systems.

Pt. A: NMR and other Spectroscopic Methods. Pt. B: Mechanical Methods

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.

'Recent Advances in Elastomeric Nanocomposites' reviews the recent progresses in the synthesis, processing as well as applications of elastomeric nanocomposites. Elastomers are a very important class of polymer materials and the generation of their nanocomposites by the incorporation of nano-filler has led to significant enhancement of their properties and, hence, expansion of their application potential. Most of the studies related with these materials are present in the form of research papers. Here, the authors present a comprehensive text covering the whole of the subject. The book is tailored more from the applications point of view, but also provide enough introductory material for research scholars new to this field.

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.

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."

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."

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."

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.

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.