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

F.J. Balta-Calleja, A. Gonzalez Arche, T.A. Ezquerra, C. Santa Cruz, F. Batallan, B. Frick, G.A. Arche, E. Lopez Cabarcos, Structure and Properties of Ferroelectric Copolymers of Poly (vinylidene) Fluoride H.G. Kilian, T. Pieper Packing of Chain Segments: A Method for Describing X-Ray Patterns of Crystalline, Liquid Crystalline and Non-Crystalline Polymers K. Miyasaka PVA-Iodine Complexes: Formation, Structure and Properties

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.

The two volumes "New Developments in Polymer Analytics" deal with recent progress in the characterization of polymers, mostly in solution but also at s- faces. Despite the fact that almost all of the described techniques are getting on in years, the contributions are expected to meet the readers interest because either the methods are newly applied to polymers or the instrumentation has achieved a major breakthrough leading to an enhanced utilizaton by polymer scientists. The first volume concentrates on separation techniques. H. Pasch summarizes the recent successes of multi-dimensional chromatography in the characteri- tion of copolymers. Both, chain length distribution and the compositional h- erogeneity of copolymers are accessible. Capillary electrophoresis is widely and successfully utilized for the characterization of biopolymers, particular of DNA. It is only recently that the technique has been applied to the characterization of water soluble synthetic macromolecules. This contributrion of Grosche and Engelhardt focuses on the analysis of polyelectrolytes by capillary electopho- sis. The last contribution of the first volume by Coelfen and Antonietti sum- rizes the achievements and pitfalls of field flow fractionation techniques. The major drawbacks in the instrumentation have been overcome in recent years and the"triple F techniques" are currently advancing to a powerful competitor to size exclusion chromatography.

Over the past four decades polymers containing imide groups (usually as build ing blocks of the polymer backbone) have attracted increasing interest of sci entists engaged in fundamental research as well as that of companies looking into their application and commercialization. This situation will apparently continue in the future and justifies that from time to time reviews be published which sum up the current state of knowledge in this field. Imide groups may impart a variety of useful properties to pol~'mers, e. g. , thermal stability chain stiffness, crystallinity, mesogenic properties, photoreactivity etc. These lead to a broad variety of potential applications. This broad and somewhat heteroge neous field is difficult to cover in one single review or monograph. A rather com prehensive monograph was edited four years ago by K. Mittal, mainly concen trating on procedures and properties of technical interest. Most reviews presented in this volume of Advances in Polymer Science focus on fundamen tal research and touch topics not intensively discussed in the monograph by K. Mittal. Therefore, the editor of this work hopes that the reader will appreci ate finding complementary information. Finally I wish to thank all the contributors who made this work possible and I would like to thank Dr. Gert Schwarz for the revision of the manuscripts of the contributions 3 and 4. Hamburg, September 1998 Hans R. Kricheldorf Contents Nanoporous Polyimides J. L. Hedrick, K. R. Carter, l. W. Labadie, R. D. Miller, W.

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This volume includes 58 contributions to the 11th International Conference on Surface and Colloid Science, a highly successful conference sponsored by the International Association of Colloid and Interface Scientists and held in Iguassu Falls, Brazil, in September 2003. Topics covered are the following: Biocolloids and Biological Applications, Charged Particles and Interfaces, Colloid Stability, Colloidal Dispersions, Environmental Colloidal Science, Interfaces and Adsorption, Nanostructures and Nanotechnology, Self-Assembly and Structured Fluids, Surfactants and Polymers, Technology and Applications, Colloids and Surfaces in Oil Production. Surface and colloid science has acquired great momentum during the past twenty years and this volume is a good display of new results and new directions in this important area.

A. Grosberg, S. Nechaev Polymer Topology H.-W. Kammer, J. Kressler, C. Kummerloewe Phase Behavior of Polymer Blends - Effects of Thermodynamics and Rheology B. Hammouda Sans from Homogeneous Polymer Mixtures: A Unified Overview E.T. Kang, K.G. Neoh, K.L. Tan X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopic Studies of Electroactive Polymers

The broad field of conformational motion disorder in crystals is described with particular attention to the separation from the well known mesophases of liquid crystals and plastic crystals. Structure, thermodynamics and motion of a larger number of small and large molecules are discussed. Of special interest are the borderlines between smectic and high viscosity liquid crystals and condis crystals and between plastic crystals and condis crystals as complicated by pseudorotation, jumping between symmetry-related states and hindered rotation. This paper illustrates the wide distribution of conformational disorder in nature. Condis crystals and glasses ("Con"formational "Dis"order) can be found in small and large molecule systems made of organic, inorganic and biological compounds. The condis state was newly discovered only four years ago. In this article over 100 examples are discussed as example of the condis state. In many cases the condis state was suggested for the first time. Motion in the Condensed State, Condis Crystals and their Relation to Plastic Crystals, Condis Crystals of Flexible Macromolecules, Condis Crystals and their Relation to Liquid Crystals, Condis Crystals of Stiff Macromolecules.

How did life begin on the Earth? The units of life are cells, which can be defined as bounded systems of molecules that capture energy and nutrients from the environment -- systems that expand, reproduce, and evolve over time, often into more complex systems. This book is the proceedings of a unique meeting, sponsored by NATO and held in Maratea, Italy, that brought together for the first time an international group of investigators who share an interest in how molecules self-assemble into supramolecular structures, and how those structures may have contributed to the origin of life. The book is written at a moderately technical level, appropriate for use by researchers and by students in upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in biochemistry and molecular biology. The overall interest of its subject matter provides an excellent introduction for students who wish to understand how the foundational knowledge of chemistry and physics can be applied to one of the most fundamental questions now facing the scientific community. The editors are pioneers in defining what we mean by the living state, particularly the manner in which simple molecular systems can assume complex associations and functions, including the ability to reproduce. Each chapter of the book presents an up-to-date report of highly significant research. Two of the authors received medals from the National Academy of Science USA in 1994, and other research reported in the book has been featured in internationally recognized journals such Scientific American, Time, and Discover.