This book broadens the knowledge of tribology. This book is evolved out of current research trends on tribological performance of systems related to nano tribology, rheology, engines, polymer brushes, composite materials, erosive wear and lubrication. The book deals with enhancing the ideas on tribological properties, the different types of wear phenomenon and lubrication enhancement. Further, the tribological performance of systems, whether nano, micro or macro-scale, depends upon a large number of external parameters and important among them are temperature, contact pressure and relative speed. Thus, the book focus on the theoretical aspects to industrial applications of tribology.

This comprehensive and authoritative book aims to encompass the best and current practices in the field of contemporary food packaging. It covers various aspects of packaging, including challenges and their solutions, innovations, and environmental concerns. Written by experts working in the field, the content is supported by technical/statistical data, practical examples, case studies, and real-life experiences of academicians and professionals working in the area of food packaging. The book covers challenges in food packaging, systems and materials for packaging, packaging design requirements of the food industry, technology machinery and system, printing and graphics, testing and regulatory aspects, advanced and smart packaging, distribution and logistics in a globalized environment, and sustainable and green packaging. This book will be useful for Packaging Technologists, food scientists, material scientists, policy makers, students, and researchers.

Polymeric materials play an essential and ubiquitous role in many fields including structural and packaging materials, drug development, tissue engineering, wastewater treatment, pollutant removal, separation, water purification, smart agriculture, and even road and building construction. This book contains eleven comprehensive chapters covering topics from deriving polymers from natural resources or wastes to developing novel functional polymeric materials in the form of membranes, hydrogels, foams, nanocomposites for various environmental applications. This book also discusses the utilization of waste plastics and the challenges and progress made in recycling and reusing commercially viable polymers. Such information is valuable and accelerates technological progress. Each chapter further gives the current fabrication methodology, challenges, and future scope of these materials related to their environmental applications. Thus anyone working on polymer-based materials will benefit from the comprehensive knowledge presented in this book on novel polymeric materials and their various environmental applications.

This book presents a unified approach to fracture behavior of natural and synthetic fiber-reinforced polymer composites on the basis of fiber orientation, the addition of fillers, characterization, properties and applications. In addition, the book contains an extensive survey of recent improvements in the research and development of fracture analysis of FRP composites that are used to make higher fracture toughness composites in various applications.The FRP composites are an emerging area in polymer science with many structural applications. The rise in materials failure by fracture has forced scientists and researchers to develop new higher strength materials for obtaining higher fracture toughness. Therefore, further knowledge and insight into the different modes of fracture behavior of FRP composites are critical to expanding the range of their application.

It covers the synthesis, characterizations, and properties of natural polymeric systems, including their morphology, structure, and dynamics. It introduces the most recent innovations and applications of natural polymers and their composites in the food, construction, electronics, biomedical, pharmaceutical, and engineering industries.

LCs are self-organized anisotropic fluids that are thermodynamically located between the isotropic liquid and the crystalline phase, exhibiting the fluidity of liquids as well as the long-range lattice order that can only be found in crystalline solids. The addition of nanomaterials to a LC material produces a composite or colloidal dispersion and results into a revolutionary change in their applications. This book will discuss the remarkable performances of nano-particle aided liquid crystals in metamaterials, photonics, functionalized polymer fibres, sensing, and medical diagnostics.

* Provides new insights into materials science
* Indicates the value of biology in materials science
* Demonstrates how new interdisciplinary studies are influencing the fields of materials science and chemistry
* Surveys this new field and shows what progress has been made as well as indicating the potential of these applications
* Leading scientists review biomimetic approaches to the synthesis and processing of nanoparticles, thin patterned films, ceramics, and organic-inorganic composites
* Focuses on molecule synthesis, templating, organized construction and microstructural processing of biomimetic materials
related titles are:
- Meyers: Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
- Silver: Biocompatibility Vol.1: Polymers

This book summarizes recent progress in cellulose chemistry. The last 10 years have witnessed important developments, because sustainability is a major concern. Biodegradable cellulose derivatives, in particular esters and ethers, are employed on a large scale. The recent developments in cellulose chemistry include unconventional methods for the synthesis of derivatives, introduction of novel solvents, e.g. ionic liquids, novel approaches to regioselective derivatization of cellulose, preparation of nano-particles and nano-composites for specific applications. These new developments are discussed comprehensively. This book is aimed at researchers and professionals working on cellulose and its derivatives. It fills an important gap in teaching, because most organic chemistry textbooks concentrate on the relatively simple chemistry of mono- and disaccharides. The chemistry and, more importantly, the applications of cellulose are only concisely mentioned.

This book provides information about the sources, structure, and properties of keratin as well as its applications. The extraction from different biomass sources (e.g. feathers, hairs, nails, horn, hoof, and claws) as well as the characterization methods of these extracted materials are explained. The development of bioproducts from keratins is challenging and limited since they are neither soluble in polar solvents nor in non-polar solvents. Therefore, the utilization of different microorganisms for the degradation of keratin is also discussed. The main aim of this book is to highlight the unique features of keratin and to update readers with the possible prospects to develop various value-added products from keratins. The book is highly interesting to researchers working in industry and academia on bioproducts, tissue engineering, biocomposites, biofilm, and biofibers.

Synergetics is the quantitative study of multicomponent systems that exhibit nonlinear dynamics and cooperativity. This book specifically considers basic models of the nonlinear dynamics of molecular systems and discusses relevant applications in biological physics and the polymer sciences.
Emphasis is placed on specific solutions to the dynamical equations that correspond to the coherent formation of spatial-temporal structures, such as solitons, kinks and breathers, in particular. The emergence of these patterns in molecular structures provides a variety of information on their structural properties and plays a significant part in energy transfer processes, topological defects, dislocations, and related structure transitions.
Real media, in which solitons take the form of solitary waves, are also considered. In this context, the formation of nonlinear waves in a continuous medium described by nonlinear equations is associated with spontaneous breaking of the local symmetry of the homogeneous system, which produces a range of interesting phenomena.
A particular feature of this text is its combination of analytic and computational strategies to tackle difficult nonlinear problems at the molecular level of matter.

Provides description of functional foams, their manufacturing methods, properties, and applications Covers various blowing agents, greener methods for foaming, and emerging applicability Illustrates comparative information regarding polymeric foams and recent developments with polymer nanocomposite foams Includes applications in mechanical, civil, biomedical, food packaging, electronics, health care industry, and acoustics fields Reviews elastomeric foams and their nanocomposite derivatives

This book discusses the tribological, rheological and optical properties of liquid-crystal nanomaterials as well as lubricant media. It also describes the formation of liquid-crystal materials and the application of cholesteric liquid-crystal compounds in technical friction units and in human and animal joints. Further, it shows the connection between the tribological and other physical properties of liquid-crystal cholesterol compounds and develops a lubricity conceptual model of cholesteric-nematic, liquid-crystalline nanostructures on the basis of physical and energetic interpretations. This general model is valid for all surfaces and friction pairs, including biopolymers, and could lead to applications of cholesteric liquid-crystalline nanomaterials in different friction units and tribosystems as well as in the treatment of joint diseases.

Polyoxometalates are anionic metal-oxo nanoclusters, which constitute a unique class of compounds owing to their rich solution equilibria and their unique compositional, electronic, reactive, and structural diversity. This book reviews metal-oxide cluster chemistry by covering topics ranging from fundamental aspects (i.e., structure, properties, self-assembly processes, derivatization) to functional materials that incorporate these molecular units, as well as their applications in the fields of current socioeconomic interest, such as energy storage systems, catalysis, molecular electronics, and biomedicine. Edited by prominent researchers in the field of polymer and polyoxometalate chemistries, the book compiles contributions from some of the most distinguished and promising scientists worldwide in such a way that it will appeal to a general readership involved in research areas related to chemistry and materials science.

The series Advances in Polymer Science presents critical reviews of the present and future trends in polymer and biopolymer science. It covers all areas of research in polymer and biopolymer science including chemistry, physical chemistry, physics, material science.The thematic volumes are addressed to scientists, whether at universities or in industry, who wish to keep abreast of the important advances in the covered topics.Advances in Polymer Science enjoys a longstanding tradition and good reputation in its community. Each volume is dedicated to a current topic, and each review critically surveys one aspect of that topic, to place it within the context of the volume. The volumes typically summarize the significant developments of the last 5 to 10 years and discuss them critically, presenting selected examples, explaining and illustrating the important principles, and bringing together many important references of primary literature. On that basis, future research directions in the area can be discussed. Advances in Polymer Science volumes thus are important references for every polymer scientist, as well as for other scientists interested in polymer science - as an introduction to a neighboring field, or as a compilation of detailed information for the specialist.Review articles for the individual volumes are invited by the volume editors. Single contributions can be specially commissioned.Readership: Polymer scientists, or scientists in related fields interested in polymer and biopolymer science, at universities or in industry, graduate students

Styrenic polymers encompass a broad range of types from commodity plastics to engineering polymers. Early polystyrenes - whilst having many favourable attributes such as outstanding clarity, high gloss, ease of processability and low cost - suffered from brittleness and poor chemical resistance. Today there exists a variety of new polymers, copolymers and blends that enable styrenic polymers to be used in ever growing and more demanding applications. Styrenic polymers now find widespread use in areas from packaging materials right through to structural components for domestic and automotive applications.

This book serves as the first comprehensive reference to systematically cover the preparation, properties and applications of this important class of polymers. Major end-use consideration of styrenic polymers such as fracture properties, flammability and photodegradation are covered in detail. This book also describes the latest advances from new polymerization technologies to novel polymer architectures. The book is truly international in its scope, with 31 contributions from leading experts in North America, South America, Europe, Japan and Australia.

With over 15 chapters written by The Dow Chemical Company and some five chapters by BASF, this book provides an authoritative and comprehensive treatment by contemporary experts from the leading companies engaged in the commercial manufacture, research and development of styrenic polymers.

This comprehensive volume provides current, state-of-the-art information on specialty polymers that can be used for many advanced applications. The book covers the fundamentals of specialty polymers, synthetic approaches, and chemistries to modify their properties to meet the requirements for special applications, along with current challenges and prospects. Chapters are written by global experts, making this a suitable textbook for students and a one-stop resource for researchers and industry professionals. Key Features: - Presents synthesis, characterization, and applications of specialty polymers for advanced applications. - Provides fundamentals and requirements for polymers to be used in many advanced and emerging areas. - Details novel methods and advanced technologies used in polymer industries. - Covers the state-of-the-art progress on specialty polymers for a range of advanced applications.

This book summarizes the results of years of research on the problem of strength and fracture of polymers and elastomers. It sets out the modern approach to the strength theory from the standpoint of fractals, the kinetic and thermodynamic theories as well as the meso-mechanic destruction. The dimension reduction method is applied to model the friction processes in elastomers subjected to the complex dynamic loading. Finally, it analyses a relation between the fracture mechanism and the relation phenomena, and provides new experimental data on the sealing nodes in accordance with their specific working conditions where the effect of self-sealing is observed.

From fabrication to testing and modeling this monograph covers all aspects on the materials class of magneto active polymers. The focus is on computational modeling of manufacturing processes and material parameters. As other smart materials, these elastomers have the ability to change electrical and mechanical properties upon application of magnetic fields. This allows for novel applications ranging from biomedical engineering to mechatronics.

Reinforced rubber allows the production of passenger car tires with improved rolling resistance and wet grip. This book provides in-depth coverage of the physics behind elastomer reinforcement, with a particular focus on the modification of polymer properties using active fillers such as carbon black and silica. The authors build a firm theoretical base through a detailed discussion of the physics of polymer chains and matrices before moving on to describe reinforcing fillers and their applications in the improvement of the mechanical properties of high-performance rubber materials. Reinforcement is explored on all relevant length scales, from molecular to macroscopic, using a variety of methods ranging from statistical physics and computer simulations to experimental techniques. Presenting numerous technological applications of reinforcement in rubber such as tire tread compounds, this book is ideal for academic researchers and professionals working in polymer science.

This book provides a unified mechanics and materials perspective on polymers: both the mathematics of viscoelasticity theory as well as the physical mechanisms behind polymer deformation processes. Introductory material on fundamental mechanics is included to provide a continuous baseline for readers from all disciplines. Introductory material on the chemical and molecular basis of polymers is also included, which is essential to the understanding of the thermomechanical response. This self-contained text covers the viscoelastic characterization of polymers including constitutive modeling, experimental methods, thermal response, and stress and failure analysis. Example problems are provided within the text as well as at the end of each chapter. New to this edition: * One new chapter on the use of nano-material inclusions for structural polymer applications and applications such as fiber-reinforced polymers and adhesively bonded structures * Brings up-to-date polymer production and sales data and equipment and procedures for evaluating polymer characterization and classification * The work serves as a comprehensive reference for advanced seniors seeking graduate level courses, first and second year graduate students, and practicing engineers

This book presents the reader with a story-based narrative of discovery and development of radiation-induced graft polymerization. The report presented here accomplishes this by relating the inspiring account of research and development based on long-term collaboration among a professor, an engineer, and an entrepreneur. Their goal, ultimately successful, was to come up with a method for grafting functional polymer chains onto existing trunk polymers. The desired outcome was to produce feasible forms for practical use as adsorbents such as porous hollow-fiber membranes, porous sheets, nonwoven fabrics, and fibers. Adsorbents that specifically and efficiently bind to target ions and molecules are essential for capturing uranium species in seawater and antibody drugs in biological fluids and for removing metal ions from ultrapure water and radioactive cesium ions from contaminated water. This unique volume, with its clearly written text and many illustrative figures and diagrams, demonstrates the advantages of the high-adsorption capacity and rate and the easy handling of new polymeric adsorbents over conventional adsorbents. The dynamic behavior of graft chains as described here is certain to appeal especially to chemists, physicists, and material scientists as well as to other readers with an interest in this valuable subject.

Many polymers derived from various marine sources and microorganisms possess some important biological properties such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, and bioadhesivity that make them attractive as pharmaceutical excipients in various pharmaceutical dosage forms. Moreover, these polymers can be modified physically and/or chemically to improve their biomaterial properties. In this volume, Natural Polymers for Pharmaceutical Applications, Volume 2: Marine- and Microbiologically Derived Polymers, looks at how these polymers have been explored and exploited for pharmaceutical uses, such as in tablets, microparticles, nanoparticles, ophthalmic preparations, gels, emulsions, suspensions, etc. Some commonly used marine- and microbiologically derived polymers used as pharmaceutical excipients include alginates, agar-agar, gellan gum, carrageenan; chitosan, xanthan gum, and others. The book focuses on important recent advances from experts around the world on marine-derived polysaccharides and pharmaceutical applications of alginates, agar-agar, gellan gum, carrageenan, chitosan derivatives, xanthan gum.

Constitutive Models for Rubber XII is a comprehensive compilation of the oral and poster contributions to the XII European Conference on Constitutive Models for Rubbers (Milan, Italy, 7-9 September 2022). As the first after the COVID Pandemic, the XII edition again brought together researchers from the industry and the academia working in the field of elastomer technology and science to discuss the most recent advancement in the following topics: * Constitutive models * Micro-structural investigations * Experimental methods and characterization * Numerical methods * Fatigue and fracture * Aging * Industrial applications * Smart elastomer materials: applications and modelling Including more than 80 contributions from authors from around the world, this book aims at professionals and academics interested in elastomer technology and science.

This book is the second edition of Soft Actuators, originally published in 2014, with 12 chapters added to the first edition. The subject of this new edition is current comprehensive research and development of soft actuators, covering interdisciplinary study of materials science, mechanics, electronics, robotics, and bioscience. The book includes contemporary research of actuators based on biomaterials for their potential in future artificial muscle technology. Readers will find detailed and useful information about materials, methods of synthesis, fabrication, and measurements to study soft actuators. Additionally, the topics of materials, modeling, and applications not only promote the further research and development of soft actuators, but bring benefits for utilization and industrialization. This volume makes generous use of color figures, diagrams, and photographs that provide easy-to-understand descriptions of the mechanisms, apparatus, and motions of soft actuators. Also, in this second edition the chapters on modeling, materials design, and device design have been given a wider scope and made easier to comprehend, which will be helpful in practical applications of soft actuators. Readers of this work can acquire the newest technology and information about basic science and practical applications of flexible, lightweight, and noiseless soft actuators, which differ from conventional mechanical engines and electric motors. This new edition of Soft Actuators will inspire readers with fresh ideas and encourage their research and development, thus opening up a new field of applications for the utilization and industrialization of soft actuators.

Most photovoltaic (PV) installations utilise heavy conventional glass or polycarbonate panels, and even newly developed thin plastic or metal films for PV cell use may fracture during both construction and application. Textile fabrics, the most widespread flexible materials in everyday use, offer a solution to the need for lightweight, flexible solar PV generators. Solar Textiles: The Flexible Solution for Solar Power is about the incorporation and operation of solar cells on textile fabrics. The combination of textile manufacturing and solar PV cell technology opens up further avenues for both the textile and semiconductor industries. Thus, this book reflects the progressively increasing commercial interest in PV cell technology and the versatility that their integration in textiles provides. Discusses textiles as electrical substrates Explains the photovoltaic effect and associated parameters Offers special consideration of solar cells on textiles Compares fibres and fabrics and how to implement PV activity on a textile Describes manufacturing methods outside of semiconductor technology Includes applications open only to textiles This work is aimed at textile technologists, electronic engineers, solar technologists, civil engineers and designers in building fabrics and architecture.