In this data book, both conventional Py-GC/MS where thermal energy alone is used to cause fragmentation of given polymeric materials and reactive Py-GC/MS in the presence of organic alkaline for condensation polymers are compiled. Before going into detailed presentation of the data, however, acquiring a firm grip on the proper understanding about the situation of Py-GC/MS would promote better utilization of the following pyrolysis data for various polymers samples.

This book incorporates recent technological advances in analytical pyrolysis methods especially useful for the characterization of 163 typical synthetic polymers. The book briefly reviews the instrumentation available in advanced analytical pyrolysis, and offers guidance to perform effectually this technique combining with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Main contents are comprehensive sample pyrograms, thermograms, identification tables, and representative mass spectra (MS) of pyrolyzates for synthetic polymers. This edition also highlights thermally-assisted hydrolysis and methylation technique effectively applied to 33 basic condensation polymers.

Coverage of Py-GC/MS data of conventional pyrograms and thermograms of basic 163 kinds of synthetic polymers together with MS and retention index data for pyrolyzates, enabling a quick identification

Additional coverage of the pyrograms and their related data for 33 basic condensation polymers obtained by the thermally-assisted hydrolysis and methylation technique

All compiled data measured under the same experimental conditions for pyrolysis, gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to facilitate peak identification

Surveyable instant information on two facing pages dedicated to the whole data of a given polymer sample .

This book provides a concise and comprehensive introduction of polymer membranes' preparation, functionalization and applications in biotechniques including affinity membrane chromatography, membrane-based biosensor and membrane-based bioreactor.Following an introduction to the general concept of membrane separation in Chapter 1, preparation of polymeric membranes is discussed in Chapter 2. The book then describes in Chapter 3 membrane surface activation, which is a key step in ligand immobilizations. Chapter 4 focuses on ligand immobilization techniques and the organic chemistries behind them. Chapter 5 introduces the application of affinity membrane chromatography. Finally, in Chapter 6, membranes used in biosensors and gas sensors, enzymatic membranes used as biosensor, and membrane biosensor for waste water treatment will be discussed.A novel filter medium, i.e. nonwoven nanofiber membrane, and its preparation method, i.e. electrospinning technique, are also introduced in this book.

The term biotechnology has emerged on the contemporary scene fairly recently, but the basic concept of utilizing natural materials, either directly or in modified versions, dates back to antiquity. If we search the ancient literature, such as the Bible, we find hundreds of examples wherein people employed, or modified, natural materials for a variety of important uses. As far back as the days of Noah we find pitch, a natural material, being used as a caulk. Clothing was made from animal skins and the products of several plants. Today, we would consider these things as important biotechnological developments. Likewise, the human use of polymeric materials also has a long his tory. In fact, many of the original materials used by mankind were poly mers derived from nature, such as wood, flax, cotton, wool and animal skins, which were used for shelter and clothing. In recent years, however, the concept of biotechnology has taken on a new and renewed role in our society. This is due to a combination of factors, including an increased interest in environmental concerns and the desire to break free from the stranglehold that petrochemicals have placed on our society. If we can manufacture some of our polymers from renewable resources, then we can expect to prepare them for many more years into the future than we might if we could only depend on the petro chemical resources.

This book provides a concise and comprehensive introduction of polymer membranes' preparation, functionalization and applications in biotechniques including affinity membrane chromatography, membrane-based biosensor and membrane-based bioreactor.Following an introduction to the general concept of membrane separation in Chapter 1, preparation of polymeric membranes is discussed in Chapter 2. The book then describes in Chapter 3 membrane surface activation, which is a key step in ligand immobilizations. Chapter 4 focuses on ligand immobilization techniques and the organic chemistries behind them. Chapter 5 introduces the application of affinity membrane chromatography. Finally, in Chapter 6, membranes used in biosensors and gas sensors, enzymatic membranes used as biosensor, and membrane biosensor for waste water treatment will be discussed.A novel filter medium, i.e. nonwoven nanofiber membrane, and its preparation method, i.e. electrospinning technique, are also introduced in this book.

This new work, Functional Polymeric Composites: Macro to Nanoscales, focuses on new challenges, findings, opportunities, and applications in the area of polymer composites. The chapters, written prominent researchers from academia, industry, and research institutes from around the world, present contemporary research and developments on advanced polymeric materials, including polymer blends, polymer electrolytes, bio-based polymer, polymer nanocomposites, etc. Several chapters also cover the applications of the polymeric systems in current industry development and synthesis and characterization of the products.

Among the materials found in Nature's many diverse living organisms or produced by human industry, those made from polymers are dominant. In Nature, they are not only dominant, but they are, as well, uniquely necessary to life. Conformations: Connecting the Chemical Structures and Material Behaviors of Polymers explores how the detailed chemical structures of polymers can be characterized, how their microstructural-dependent conformational preferences can be evaluated, and how these conformational preferences can be connected to the behaviors and properties of their materials. The authors examine the connections between the microstructures of polymers and the rich variety of physical properties they evidence. Detailed polymer architectures, including the molecular bonding and geometries of backbone and side-chain groups, monomer stereo- and regiosequences, comonomer sequences, and branching, are explicitly considered in the analysis of the conformational characteristics of polymers. This valuable reference provides practicing materials engineers as well as polymer and materials science students a means of understanding the differences in behaviors and properties of materials made from chemically distinct polymers. This knowledge can assist the reader design polymers with chemical structures that lead to their desired material behaviors and properties.

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.

Naturally occurring compounds, or natural products, have been and continue to be an important source of commercially successful products and leads in the pharmaceutical, agrochemical and nutritional sectors. The conference Functional Molecules from Natural Sources, which was held at Magdalen College, Oxford in July 2009, set out to highlight current trends, challenges and successes in the exploitation of natural products from microbial, plant and marine sources. This book is based on the proceedings of the conference and comprises modern and emerging perspectives on natural product utilization and improved strategies for their exploitation. Several case studies on important natural product leads, or functional molecules, are presented with the strategy for their development. These detail new medical applications in the use of familiar natural molecules and advances in the understanding and manipulation of natural product biosynthesis at the genetic level. Highlights include an authoritative review of the entire field of natural anticancer agents emphasising those currently in clinical development, an account of the optimisation of the pleuromutilin antibiotic template for human use and a comprehensive description of the research programme that resulted in the discovery of platensimycin. Articles on biosynthesis include studies of the antibiotics of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2), the anthrax siderophore petrobactin and the modification of oxidation and glycosylation events in the biosynthesis of mithramycins. Written by leading industrial and academic practitioners from each sector, the book offers authoritative updates on new approaches to the use of naturally occurring compounds within the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and agrochemical industries.

"... Giant molecules are important in our everyday life. But, as pointed out by the authors, they are also associated with a culture. What Bach did with the harpsichord, Kuhn and Flory did with polymers. We owe a lot of thanks to those who now make this music accessible ..."Pierre-Gilles de Gennes Nobel Prize laureate in Physics (Foreword for the 1st Edition, March 1996)This book describes the basic facts, concepts and ideas of polymer physics in simple, yet scientifically accurate, terms. In both scientific and historic contexts, the book shows how the subject of polymers is fascinating, as it is behind most of the wonders of living cell machinery as well as most of the newly developed materials. No mathematics is used in the book beyond modest high school algebra and a bit of freshman calculus, yet very sophisticated concepts are introduced and explained, ranging from scaling and reptations to protein folding and evolution. The new edition includes an extended section on polymer preparation methods, discusses knots formed by molecular filaments, and presents new and updated materials on such contemporary topics as single molecule experiments with DNA or polymer properties of proteins and their roles in biological evolution.

Of related interest . . .

THE COLLOIDAL DOMAIN Second Edition Where Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Technology Meet

D. Fennell Evans and H?kan Wennerstrom

Fully updated and revised, this new edition of the critically acclaimed book incorporates information on key developments in colloid science and technology in the twentieth century. It provides a unified treatment of colloid theory, methods, and applications to specific systems, complete with concept maps, new worked examples, and more than 250 illustrations.

1999 (0-471-24247-0) 672 pp.

FUNDAMENTALS OF INTERFACIAL ENGINEERING

Robert J. Stokes and D. Fennell Evans

This book emphasizes the importance of the intermolecular forces that hold materials together within a bulk phase or across an interface. It examines the fundamentals of the intermolecular interactions along with the properties, processing, and behavior of fluid interfacial systems. Solid surfaces and interfaces are also discussed.

1996 (0-471-18647-3) 736 pp.

POLYMER HANDBOOK

Fourth Edition

Edited by J. Brandrup, E. H. Immergut, and E. A. Grulke

Now in a fourth edition, the Polymer Handbook is one of the most comprehensive resources of fundamental, validated property data of polymeric materials necessary for polymer research. This edition boasts over 30% new material, covering such advances as the new pvt relationships and copolymer reactivity parameters. Improved nomenclature for better indexing and search and retrieval is also provided.

1999 (0-471-16628-6) 2336 pp.

This book commemorates the "Nobel Laureate Professor Suzuki Special Symposium" at the International Union of Material Research Society-International Conference on Advanced Materials (IUMRS-ICAM2017), which was held at Kyoto University, Japan, in 2017. The book begins with a foreword by Professor Akira Suzuki. Subsequently, many authors who attended the special symposium describe the latest scientific advances in the field of carbon materials and carbon nanomaterials including polymers, carbon nanocomposites, and graphene. Carbon-based materials have recently been the focus of considerable attention, given their wide range of potential applications. Fittingly, the chapters in this book cover both experimental and theoretical approaches in several categories of carbon-related materials.

The unparalleled large-scale commercial application of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), otherwise known as PEDOT, continues to fuel a need for literature about it that is concise, easily available, but sufficiently comprehensive. Designed to meet the requirements of readers from different areas of expertise and experience with the substance, PEDOT: Principles and Applications of an Intrinsically Conductive Polymer provides a comprehensive overview of chemical, physical, and technical information about this preeminent and most forwardly developed electrically conductive polymer. An indispensable resource for researchers, developers, and users of PEDOT-written by the researchers who succeeded in commercializing it A necessary response to the massive interest-as well as patents and papers-spawned by PEDOT, this handbook provides basic knowledge and explores technical applications, based on information generated by universities and academic research, as well as by industrial scientists. Available in various formulations and conductivities, this versatile PEDOT can be adapted for the needs and specific industrial applications of its different users. Although valuable information exists in handbooks on polythiophene chemistry and physics, under which PEDOT falls, until now, few if any books have focused exclusively on this important conducting polymer-certainly not one that so completely elucidates both its experimental and practical aspects. This book: Begins with a brief history of conducting polymers and polythiophenes Describes the invention of PEDOT and its commercial outgrowth, PEDOT:PSS Emphasizes key technical and commercial aspects and usage of PEDOT and how they have stimulated scientific research in a wide range of fields Explains the chemical and physical background for PEDOT in terms of its primary use and incorporation in products including cellular phones and flat panel displays Valuable for readers at any level of familiarity with PEDOT, this one-stop compilation of information offers specialists several unpublished results from the authors' celebrated work, as well as often overlooked information from patents. Balancing sufficient detail and references for further study, this book is a powerful tool for anyone working in the field.

Ten years after the debut of the expansive CRC Handbook of Thermodynamic Data of Copolymer Solutions, The CRC Handbook of Phase Equilibria and Thermodynamic Data of Copolymer Solutions updates and expands the world's first comprehensive source of this vital data. Author Christian Wohlfarth, a chemical thermodynamicist specializing in phase equilibria of polymer and copolymer solutions and a respected contributor to the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, has gathered up-to-the-minute data from more than 500 newly published references. Fully committed to ensuring the reliability of the data, the author included only results with published or personally communicated numerical values. With volumetric, calormetric, and various phase equilibrium data on more than 450 copolymers and 130 solvents, this handbook furnishes: * 150 new vapor-liquid equilibrium datasets * 50 new tables containing classical Henry's coefficients * 250 new liquid-liquid equilibrium datasets * 350 new high-pressure fluid phase equilibrium * 70 new PVT-properties datasets * 40 new enthalpic datasets * Expanded second osmotic virial coefficients data table Carefully organized, clearly presented, and fully referenced, The Handbook of Phase Equilibria and Thermodynamic Data of Copolymer Solutions will prove a cardinal contribution to the open literature and invaluable to anyone working with copolymers.

The manner in which polymers are linked, under certain conditions, forms the main focus of this work. Spectroscopy has, over the years, proved itself to be the technique in providing information at molecular levels for many polymer systems. This book provides an overview of the current state-of-the-art through contributions by world-renowned experts. Techniques covered include: ?1H and ?13C NMR; NMR Imaging, Solid State NMR, Infra Red and Raman spectroscopy, ESR, light and neutron scattering. The book will be invaluable to post graduate students of polymer science and researchers using any one of the many spectroscopic techniques.

In this important volume, the structures and functions of these advanced polymer and composite systems are evaluated with respect to improved or novel performance, and the potential implications of those developments for the future of polymer-based composites and multifunctional materials are discussed. It focuses exclusively on the latest research related to polymer and composite materials, especially new trends in frontal polymerization and copolymerization synthesis, functionalization of polymers, physical properties, and hybrid systems. Several chapters are devoted to composites and nanocomposites.

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.

Noncovalent interactions play key roles in many natural processes leading to the self-assembly of molecules with the formation of supramolecular structures. One of the most important forces responsible for self-assembly is hydrogen bonding, which also plays an important role in the self-assembly of synthetic polymers in aqueous solutions. Proton-accepting polymers can associate with proton-donating polymers via hydrogen bonding in aqueous solutions and form polymer-polymer or interpolymer complexes.There has been an increased interest among researchers in hydrogen-bonded interpolymer complexes since the first pioneering papers were published in the early 1960s. Several hundred research papers have been published on various aspects of complex formation reactions in solutions and interfaces, properties of interpolymer complexes and their potential applications. This book focuses on the latest developments in the area of interpolymer complexation via hydrogen bonding. It represents a collection of original and review articles written by recognized experts from Germany, Greece, Kazakhstan, Poland, Romania, Russia, UK, Ukraine, and the USA. It highlights many important applications of interpolymer complexes, including the stabilization of colloidal systems, pharmaceuticals, and nanomaterials.

Ring systems represent a very important branch of organic chemistry. Benzene is perhaps the pre-eminent example and provides the benchmark for the so-called aromatic character of cyclic systems. Cycloalkanes are another prominent class of organic compounds and these saturated ring systems form a homologous series known as alicyclics. Materials that are constructed from organic polymers such as polythene, polystyrene, polyisoprene (natural rubber) and polyvinyl chloride are common features of our daily lives. Most of these and related organic polymers are generated from acyclic precursors by free radical, anionic, cationic or organometallic polymerisation processes or by condensation reactions. The focus of this book is monocyclic inorganic ring systems of the p-block elements and the polymers that are, in many cases derived from them. Bicyclic or polycyclic arrangements are considered when they are closely related to those of monocyclic systems. Inorganic heterocycles that are more accurately described as coordination complexes of chelating inorganic ligands are included only when they are directly related to an inorganic homocycle or heterocycle by the replacement of one p-block element by a more metallic p-block element. After a short introductory chapter, the first half of the book is comprised of seven chapters that deal with the fundamentals of the subject intended for undergraduates or researchers who are unfamiliar with the topic, covering the following areas: - synthetic methods - characterisation techniques - delocalisation in inorganic rings - paramagnetic inorganic rings - inorganic macrocycles - ligand chemistry - inorganic polymers (general concepts including, synthesis, structure and bonding, characterisation methods, properties and applications) The final four chapters discuss in detail the chemistry of inorganic homo- and hetero-cycles involving the elements of groups 13-16 (the p-block elements). The focus is on relating the early seminal contributions to the field with exciting new developments. From the fundamental standpoint, novel structures and new bonding concepts are highlighted, in addition to synthetic approaches. This is the first book that addresses both the fundamental and applied aspects of inorganic ring systems through an emphasis of their use as precursors to inorganic polymers and other useful materials (e.g. semiconductors and ceramics). The book is intended primarily for senior undergraduates and graduate students in inorganic chemistry, as well research workers in the field of inorganic ring systems and polymers. At the undergraduate level it serves as a supplementary text to the more general inorganic chemistry text books and at the graduate level it would be the text of choice for a course in the area of inorganic rings and polymers.

This book focuses on exciting new research in polymer science. The first section of the book deals with new advancements in polymer technology, which includes polymers that are responsible for progress in the field of energy, electronics, and medical sciences. It focuses on the most promising polymer nanocomposites and nanomaterials. Composites are becoming more important because they can help to improve quality of life. The second section of the book highlights this aspect of macromolecules, while the third section emphasizes biopolymers, their development, and applications.

Elastomer-Based Composite Materials: Mechanical, Dynamic, and Microwave Properties and Engineering Applications is focused on elastomer-based composite materials comprising different types of reinforcing fillers. The book provides an informative examination of the possibilities for broadening the engineering applications of elastomer composites through using various types of hybrid fillers, ferrites, and ceramics, and also examines their synthesis and characterization. It discusses new hybrid fillers that have been synthesized by different techniques, e.g. impregnation of different substrates (carbon black, conductive carbon black, activated carbons, etc.) with silica or magnetite. These new fillers have been thoroughly characterized by standard techniques and by up-to-date methods, such as energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM-EDX), atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). The effect of those fillers upon the curing properties, mechanical and dynamic parameters, electrical conductivity, and dielectric and microwave characteristics of elastomer-based composites is discussed in detail in this volume. The book also covers the influence of various types of ceramics (SiC, B4C, and TiB2) and barium and strontium hexaferrites upon the aforementioned properties of rubber composites in conjunction with a view toward solutions for environmental problems caused by waste tires. The book shows that pyrolysis-cum-water vapor is a suitable and environmentally friendly method for the conversion of the waste green tires into useful carbon-silica hybrid fillers. The properties of elastomer-based composites comprising different types of nanostructures (fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, graphene nanoplatelets), modified activated carbons, and calcined kaolin are also discussed. Special attention is paid to composites with lower levels of zinc oxide. The volume provides an abundance of knowledge on the detailed characterization of these fillers and on the curing, mechanical, dynamic mechanical, and dielectric and microwave properties of the elastomeric composites. The book surveys the most recent research activities of the authors, which will make it a vital reference source for scientists in both the academic and industrial sectors, as well as for individuals who are interested in rubber materials. It will be very useful for students, especially PhD students, scientists, lecturers, and engineers working or doing research in the field of polymer materials science, elastomer-based composites and nanocomposites and their engineering applications in the production of microwave absorbers and electromagnetic waves shielding materials, materials for electronics devices and telecommunications.

This book reports the basics of hybrid phosphor materials, their synthesis routes and their special properties and characterization techniques. It gives the reader information about the natural origins and development of hybrid materials, which are developed by combining inorganic and organic species in one material interface-determined materials. The book provides a general classification of hybrid materials, wherein inorganic materials modified by organic moieties are distinguished from organic materials or matrices modified by inorganic constituents. It gives a focus to the functionalization of organic materials by inorganic additives. The application areas covered include optoelectronic field, sensor applications, biological and environmental applications.

Thermal analysis is an old technique. It has been neglected to some degree because developments of convenient methods of measurement have been slow and teaching of the understanding of the basics of thermal analysis is often wanting. Flexible, linear macromolecules, also not as accurately simply called polymers, make up the final, third, class of molecules which only was identified in 1920. Polymers have neverbeenfullyintegratedintothedisciplinesofscienceandengineering. Thisbook is designed to teach thermal analysis and the understanding of all materials, flexible macromolecules, as well as those of the small molecules and rigid macromolecules. The macroscopic tool of inquiry is thermal analysis, and the results are linked to microscopic molecular structure and motion. Measurements of heat and mass are the two roots of quantitative science. The macroscopic heat is connected to the microscopic atomic motion, while the macroscopic mass is linked to the microscopic atomic structure. The macroscopic unitsofmeasurementofheatandmassarethejouleandthegram, chosentobeeasily discernable by the human senses. The microscopic units of motion and structure are 12 10 the picosecond (10 seconds) and the angstrom (10 meters), chosen to fit the atomic scales. One notes a factor of 10,000 between the two atomic units when expressed in human units, second and gram with one gram being equal to one cubic centimeter when considering water. Perhaps this is the reason for the much better understanding and greater interest in the structure of materials, being closer to human experience when compared to molecular motion."

Awarded the 2009 Olle Prize! The field of coordination polymer research has undergone rapid expansion in recent years. No longer are these materials the vaguely defined 'insoluble material' at the bottom of your vessel that spell death for your reaction. They have gone from 'polymeric rubbish' to 'materials of the future'. Great leaps in the deliberate design of coordination polymers were made in the 1990s. These were allied with similar advances in related areas such as organic crystal engineering, metallosupramolecular chemistry and X-ray diffraction. No longer did we assemble things atom by atom. Whole molecules were used as building blocks and new materials were made. This is the first book to provide a broad overview of all the major facets of coordination polymer research in one place. It combines chapters on nets and interpenetration with wide-ranging surveys of transition metal and lanthanoid coordination polymers and their properties. The aim is to provide a flavour of each aspect whilst introducing the important concepts and developments using carefully selected examples. After an introduction, the text is split into three sections: -Design (nets, interpenetration, malleability) -Analysis (transition metal coordination polymers, lanthanoid coordination polymers, organometallic networks, organic-inorganic hybrids) -Application (magnetic properties, porosity, acentric and chiral networks, reactive coordination polymers, other properties). Written in the style of a tutorial review, the book is suitable for both senior specialists and new postgraduate students taking their first steps in the field. It also provides an authoritative and detailed reference source.

Carbohydrate chemistry has seen a resurgence of interest stimulated by increasing awareness of the roles of these substances in biological recognition regulation. In addition, the increasing power of theoretical, physical and synthetic methods have enabled deeper insights into the properties of carbohydrates and their potential for exploitation. Carbohydrates presents a contemporary picture of our knowledge of the structures and syntheses of monosaccharide, oligosaccharide and glycopeptide units, and the properties of some important examples and derivatives including sulphates and polysaccharides. Written by established experts in the field, the book provides informed perspective of nine key areas at a level between basic texts and special research treatments.

The present volume includes most of the material of the invited lectures delivered at the NATO Advanced Study Institute "Morphogenesis through the interplay of nonlinear chemical instabilities and elastic active media" held from 2th to 14th July 2007 at the Institut d'Etudes Scientifiques de Cargese (http: //www.iesc.univ-corse.fr/), in Corsica (France). This traditional place to organize Summer Schools and Workshops in a well equipped secluded location at the border of the Mediterranean sea has, over many years now, earned an increasing deserved reputation. Non-linear dynamics of non equilibrium systems has worked its way into a great number of fields and plays a key role in the understanding of se- organization and emergence phenomena in domains as diverse as chemical reactors, laser physics, fluid dynamics, electronic devices and biological morphogenesis. In the latter case, the viscoelastic properties of tissues are also known to play a key role. The control and formulation of soft responsive or "smart" materials has been a fast growing field of material science, specially in the area of po- mer networks, due to their growing applications in bio-science, chemical sensors, intelligent microfluidic devices, ... . Nature is an important p- vider of active materials whether at the level of tissues or at that of s- cellular structures. As a consequence, the fundamental understanding of the physical mechanisms at play in responsive materials also shines light in the understanding of biological artefacts."