A reasonable case could be made that the scientific interest in catalytic oxidation was the basis for the recognition of the phenomenon of catalysis. Davy, in his attempt in 1817 to understand the science associated with the safety lamp he had invented a few years earlier, undertook a series of studies that led him to make the observation that a jet of gas, primarily methane, would cause a platinum wire to continue to glow even though the flame was extinguished and there was no visible flame. Dobereiner reported in 1823 the results of a similar investigation and observed that spongy platina would cause the ignition of a stream of hydrogen in air. Based on this observation Dobereiner invented the first lighter. His lighter employed hydrogen (generated from zinc and sulfuric acid) which passed over finely divided platinum and which ignited the gas. Thousands of these lighters were used over a number of years. Dobereiner refused to file a patent for his lighter, commenting that "I love science more than money." Davy thought the action of platinum was the result of heat while Dobereiner believed the ~ffect ~as a manifestation of electricity. Faraday became interested in the subject and published a paper on it in 1834; he concluded that the cause for this reaction was similar to other reactions.

While books have been written on many topics of Polymer Science, no compre hensive treatise on long chain branching has ever been composed. This series of reviews in Volume 142 and 143 of Advances in Polymer Science tries to fill this gap by highlighting active areas of research on branched polymers. Long chain branching is a phenomenon observed in synthetic polymers and in some natural polysaccharides. It has long been recognized as a major mole cular parameter of macromolecules. Its presence was first surmised by H. Stau dinger and G. V. Schuh (Ber. 68, 2320, 1935). Interestingly, their method of iden tification by means of the abnormal relation between intrinsic viscosity and molecular weight has survived to this day. Indeed, the most sophisticated method for analysis of long chain branching uses size exclusion fractionation with the simultaneous recording of mass, molecular weight and intrinsic visco sity of the fractions. In the 1940s and 1950s, random branching in polymers and its effect on their properties was studied by Stockmayer, Flory, Zimm and many others. Their work remains a milestone on the subject to this day. Flory dedicated several chapters of his "Principles of Polymer Chemistry" to non linear polymers. Especially important at that time was the view that randomly branched polymers are inter mediates to polymeric networks. Further developments in randomly branched polymers came from the introduction of percolation theory. The modern aspec ts of this topic are elaborated here in the chapter by W. Burchard.

Over the last forty years,good old-fashioned colloid chemistry has undergone something of a revolution,transforming itself from little more than a collection of qualitative observations of the macroscopic behaviour of some complex s- tems into a discipline with a solid theoretical foundation and a whole toolbox of new chemical techniques.It can now boast a set of concepts which go a long way towards providing an understanding of the many strange and interesting beh- iour patterns exhibited by natural and artificial systems on the mesoscale. In other words: colloid chemists have acquired a great deal of experience in the generation and control of matter with tools that are specific on a scale of some nanometers to micrometers.Modern concepts such as self-organisation,hier- chical set-up of materials,nanoparticles,functional surface engineering,int- facing and cross-talk of complex chemical objects,all of which are now in the toolbox of this 90-year old science. It is the aim of the present issue of"Topics in Current Chemistry"to highlight some of the most attractive recent developments in colloid chemistry which are expected to have broader relevance and to be interesting to a more general readership.The contributions focus both on tools and procedures as well as on potential applications.

Improvement of the catalytic properties of biological catalysts is equally important in the optimization of industrial processes as in the fundamental understanding of the catalytic machinery at the molecular level. The approaches taken are diverse and span from purely result-oriented, but nevertheless methodologically subtle, making and screening of combinatorial libraries to highly sophisticated tailoring of the environment of active sites. This volume illustrates four different concepts for modifying a given biocatalyst framework or create novel functions using Nature's basic building blocks. Summing up the state-of-the-art biocatalyst engineering it, serves as an orientational landmark and a platform for the specialist and non-expert alike to keep abreast of developments in this rapidly evolving field.

This book reviews recent advances in polymer swelling resulting from the use of novel microporous composite films. It offers a new approach to understanding sorption processes in polymer-liquid systems based on the molecular structures of the sorbed molecules and the repeat unit of the sorbent polymer. It is shown how the adsorption parameters obtained in these studies relate meaningfully with the Flory-Huggins interaction parameters. This implies that these adsorption parameters have relevance not only for swelling and drying of polymers, but also for other phenomena in which molecular sorption plays an important role, such as in chromatography and in membrane permeation.

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 series presents critical reviews of the present and future trends in polymer and biopolymer science including chemistry, physical chemistry, physics and materials science. It is addressed to all scientists at universities and in industry who wish to keep abreast of advances in the topics covered.

Impact Factor Ranking: Always number one in Polymer Science. More information as well as the electronic version of the whole content available at: www.springerlink.com

Adsorption at solid/liquid interfaces Ulbig P, Seippel J: Development of a group contribution method for liquid-phase adsorption onto activated carbons ..................... Laszlb K: Adsorption from aqueous phenol and 2,3,4-trichlorophenol solutions on nanoporous carbon prepared from poly(ethy1ene terephthalate) . . Mizukami M, Kurihara K: Alcohol cluster formation on silica surfaces in cyclohexane . . Tombacz E, Szekeres M: Effects of impurity and solid-phase dissolution on surface charge titration of aluminium oxide ............................... Horanyi G, Job P: Radiotracer study of the specific adsorption of anions on oxides Kovaeevit D, cop A, Bradetic A, Interfacial equilibria at a goethite aqueous interface in the presence Kallay N, Pohlmeier A, of amino acids ......................................... Narres H-D, Lewandowski H: Ruffmann B, Zimehl R: Liquid sorption and stability of polystyrene latices ........... Zimehl R, Hannig M: Adsorption onto tooth enamel the - biological interface and its modification ........................................... Lengyel Z, Foldinyi R: Adsorption of chloroacetanilide herbicides on Hungarian soils ..... Paszli I, Laszlo K: Stagnation phenomenon of solid/fluid interfaces ................ Mielke M, Zimehl R: Measures to determine the hydrophobicity of colloidal polymers . Farkas A, Dekany I: Interlamellar adsorption of organic pollutants on hydrophobic . . vermiculite ............................................ Dabrowski A, Biilow M, Adsorption against pollution: current state and perspectives ....... Podkocielny P: Textor T, Bahners T, Schollmeyer E: Organically modified ceramics for coating textile materials ........ Nanostructured materials Esumi K, Torigoe K: Preparation and characterization of noble metal nanoparticles using ........................... dendrimers as protective colloids Mogyorbsi K, Nemeth J, Dekany I, Preparation, characterization, and photocatalytic properties Fendler JH: of layered-silicate-supported TiOz and ZnO nanoparticles ........

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This book is concerned with the configuration of polymers at the interfacial zone between two other phases or immiscible components. In recent years, developments in technology combined with increased attention from specialists in a wide range of fields have resulted in a considerable increase in our understanding of the behavior of polymers at interfaces. Inevitably these advances have generated a wealth of literature and although there have been numerous reviews, a critical treatment with adequate descriptions of both theory and experiment, including detailed analysis of the two, has been missing. This text hopes to fill this gap, providing a timely and comprehensive account of the field as it stands today. This long needed work will be invaluable to experts as well as newcomers in the broad field of polymers, interfaces and colloids, both in industry and academia. Whilst industrial laboratories involved in this field will find it indispensable, it will be equally important to anyone with an interest in interfacial polymer or colloidal research.

In recent years, a growing number of engineering applications of light weight and energy efficient plastics can be found in high quality parts vital to the func tioning of entire equipments and structures. Improved mechanical properties, especially balance of stiffness and toughness, are among the most frequently desired features of the new materials. In addition, reduced flammability is con sidered the single most important requirement for further expansion of plastics into large volume and demanding markets such as construction and mass trans port. Production of power cables also requires flame retardant cable jacketing plastics to replace or at least to reduce consumption of environmentally unsound PVC. The two principal ways to achieve the goals mentioned above include the development of completely new thermoplastic polymers and various modifica tions of the existing ones. Development and commercialization of a new ther moplastic require mobilization of large human and financial resources, the lat ter being within the range from $100 million to $10 billion, in comparison to $100 thousand to $10 million needed to develop and commercialize polymeric mate rial with prescribed end use properties using physical or chemical modification of an existing plastic. In addition, the various markets utilizing thermoplastics demand large flexibility in material properties with only moderate volumes, at the best.