-Effects of Electric Fields on Block Copolymer Nanostructures By H. G. Schoberth, V. Olszowka, K. Schmidt, and A. Boeker -Nanopattern Evolution in Block Copolymer Films: Experiment, Simulations and Challenges By L. Tsarkova, G.J. Agur Sevink, and G. Krausch -Controlled Wrinkling as a Novel Method for the Fabrication of Patterned Surfaces By A. Schweikart, A. Horn, A. Boeker, and A. Fery -Layered Systems Under Shear Flow By D. Svensek and H. R. Brand -Thermal Diffusion in Polymer Blends: Criticality and Pattern Formation By W. Koehler, A. Krekhov, and W. Zimmermann -Foaming of Microstructured and Nanostructured Polymer Blends By H. Ruckdaschel, P. Gutmann, V. Altstadt, H. Schmalz, and A.H.E. Muller

Catalysis involves just about every field of scientific study. This means that a multidisciplinary approach is needed in catalytic studies. Catalysis involves breaking and forming new bonds and this requires an under standing of either adsorption by bonding to an extended structures or bonding in a coordination sphere. Any understanding of catalytic action must necessarily involve an understanding of this bonding. Even 200 years ago scientists were aware that a properly treated mate rial, such as charcoal, could adsorb an enormous quantity of gas. In 1812, de Sassasure (English translation, Annal Philosphy, 6, 241 (1815 pro posed that the ability of a material to increase the rate of chemical reac tion was due to adsorption of the material in the fine structure of the solid so that the concentrations of the reactants were significantly increased, and this increase in concentration led to an increase in reaction rate. During the 1800s, little advance was made in the understanding of adsorp tion."

At the beginning of the twentieth century, engineers and technologists would have recognized the importance of adhesion in two main aspects: First, in the display of friction between surfaces - at the time a topic of growing importance to engineers; the second in crafts requiring the joining of materials - principally wood-to form engineering structures. While physical scientists would have admitted the adhesive properties of glues, gels, and certain pastes, they regarded them as materials of uncertain formulation, too impure to be amenable to precise experiment. Biological scientists were aware also of adhesive phenomena, but the science was supported by documentation rather than understanding. By the end of the century, adhesion and adhesives were playing a crucial and deliberate role in the formulation of materials, in the design and manufacture of engineering structures without weakening rivets or pins, and in the use of thin sections and intricate shapes. Miniaturization down to the micro- and now to the nano-level of mechanical, electrical, electronic, and optical devices relied heavily on the understanding and the technology of adhesion. For most of the century, physical scientists were aware that the states of matter, whether gas, liquid, or solid, were determined by the competition between thermal energy and int- molecular binding forces. Then the solid state had to be differentiated into crystals, amorphous glasses, metals, etc. , so the importance of the molecular attractions in determining stiffness and strength became clearer.

This and its companion Volume 2 chronicle the proceedings of the First Technical Conference on Polyimides: Synthesis, Char acterization and Applications held under the auspices of the Mid Hudson Section of the Society of Plastics Engineers at Ellenville, New York, November 10-12, 1982. In the last decade or so there has been an accelerated interest in the use of polyimides for a variety of applications in a number of widely differing technologies. The applications of polyimides range from aerospace to microelectronics to medical field, and this is attributed to the fact that polyimides offer certain desirable traits, inter alia, high temperature stability. Polyimides are used as organic insulators, as adhesives, as coat ings, in composites, just to name a few of their uses. Even a casual search of the literature will underscore the importance of this class of materials and the high tempo of R&D activity taking place in the area of polyimides. So it was deemed that a conference on polyimides was both timely and needed. This conference was designed to provide a forum for discussion of various ramifications of polyimides, to bring together scientists and technologists interested in all aspects of polyimides and thus to provide an opportunity for cross-pollination of ideas, and to highlight areas which needed further and intensi fied R&D efforts. If the comments from the attendees are a baro meter of the success of a conference, then this event was highly successful and fulfilled amply its stated objectives.

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

This book arose from a symposium titled 'Transition Metal Carbides and Nitrides: Preparation, Properties, and Reactivity' organized by Jae Sung Lee, Masatoshi Nagai and myself. The symposium was part of the 1995 Congress of Pacific Rim Chemical Societies, held in Honolulu, Hawaii between December 17-22, 1995. The meeting was the first major conference to exclusively address the theme of metal carbides and nitrides, and brought together many of the major researchers in the field. Over 50 scientists and engineers reported their latest findings in five sessions of presentations and discussions. The book closely follows the topics covered in the conference: Theory of bonding Structure and composition Catalytic properties Physical properties New methods of preparation Spectroscopy and microscopy The book is unique in its coverage. It provides a general introduction to the properties and nature of the materials, but also covers their latest applications in a wide variety of fields. It should thus be of interest to both experts and nonexperts in the fields of material science, solid-state chemistry, physics, ceramics engineering, and catalysis. The first chapter gives an overview, and many of the chapters provide summaries of advanced topics. All contributions were peer-reviewed.

Over the past 40 years, Rotational Isomeric State (RIS) models for hundreds of polymer structures have been developed. The RIS approach is now available in several software packages. The user is often faced with the time-consuming task of finding appropriate RIS parameters from the literature. This book aims at easing this step by providing a comprehensive overview of the models available. It reviews the literature from the first applications of RIS models to the end of 1994, comprises synthetic as well as naturally orccuring macromolecules, and tabulates all the pertinent features of published models. It will help readers, even when not very familiar with the method, to take advantage of this computationally efficient way of assessing the conformational properties of macromolecular systems.

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.

Most of the untreated surfaces of polymers used in industry are not hydrophilic but hydrophobic. It is, therefore, difficult to bond these nonpolar polymer sur faces directly to other substances like adhesives, printing inks, and paints because they generally consist of polar compounds. On the other hand, polymer surfaces generally adsorb proteins when brought into direct contact with a bio logical system, resulting in cell attachment or platelet aggregation. The protein adsorption and attachment of biological components trigger a subsequent series of mostly adverse biological reactions toward the polymeric materials. Therefore, the technologies for surface modification of polymers or regulation of the polymer surface interaction with other substances have been of prime importance in polymer applications from the advent of polymer industries. Some of the technologies have been directed to introduction of new function alities onto polymer surfaces. The new functionalities introduced include improved surface hydrophilicity, hydrophobicity, bio compatibility, conductivi ty, anti-fogging, anti-fouling, grazing, surface hardness, surface roughness, adhesion, lubrication, and antistatic property. Theoretically, there is a large dif ference in properties between the surface and the bulk of a material and only the outermost surface is enough to be taken into consideration when the sur face properties are concerned. However, this is not the case for polymer surfaces, as the physical structure of the outermost polymer surface is generally not fixed but continuously changing with time due to the microscopic Brownian motion of polymer segments."

Natural products like wool, leather or cotton are permeable to water vapor. Their complex fibrous structure makes it difficult to imitate this natural phenomenon by synthesis. This book discusses ways to obtain water vapor permeability by microporosity or through a hydrophilic structure. Various areas of application include the medical sector for implants and dialysis, the industrial sector for filtration or for processes requiring the slow release of substances, and the consumer sector for leather substitutes or performance textiles.

In 1975, a symposium was held in Midland, Michigan, co-sponsored by the Dow Chemical Company and the then Midland Macromolecular Institute in honor of Raymond F. Boyer on the occasion of his 65th birthday and retirement from Dow. The topic of that first Boyer symposium dealt with an area of interest to Boyer, namely, polymer transitions and relaxations. One decade later, after ten years of additional fruitful scientific endeavor at MMI, Ray Boyer was again honored with a symposium, this time celebrating his 75th birthday and 10th anniversary at the Michigan Molecular Institute. The topic of the second Boyer symposium in 1985 was somewhat more focused, this time concentrating on the subject of order (or structure) in the amorphous state of polymers and the attendant polymer transitions that are observed. This volume contains the full manuscripts of the contributors to the 17th MMI International Symposium, held in Midland, Michigan on August 18-21, 1985. Eleven one-hour plenary lectures and ten 20-minute contributed papers were presented during the Symposium. An open forum panel discussion was also scheduled; the edited transcript of that session is included at the end of this volume. One of our tasks in organizing this Symposium was to attempt to gather together a number of speakers who would be able to define what, if any, physical structure might be present in anwrplwus polymers and what the nature of this order might be.

Until comparatively recently, trace analysis techniques were in general directed toward the determination of impurities in bulk materials. Methods were developed for very high relative sensitivity, and the values determined were average values. Sampling procedures were devised which eliminated the so-called sampling error. However, in the last decade or so, a number of developments have shown that, for many purposes, the distribution of defects within a material can confer important new properties on the material. Perhaps the most striking example of this is given by semiconductors; a whole new industry has emerged in barely twenty years based entirely on the controlled distribu tion of defects within what a few years before would have been regarded as a pure, homogeneous crystal. Other examples exist in biochemistry, metallurgy, polyiners and, of course, catalysis. In addition to this of the importance of distribution, there has also been a recognition growing awareness that physical defects are as important as chemical defects. (We are, of course, using the word defect to imply some dis continuity in the material, and not in any derogatory sense. ) This broadening of the field of interest led the Materials Advisory Board( I} to recommend a new definition for the discipline, "Materials Character ization," to encompass this wider concept of the determination of the structure and composition of materials. In characterizing a material, perhaps the most important special area of interest is the surface.