Polymers continue to play an ever increasing role in the modern world. In fact it is quite inconceivable to most people that we could ever have existed of the increased volume and variety of materials without them. As a result currently available, and the diversity of their application, characterisation has become an essential requirement of industrial and academic laboratories in volved with polymeric materials. On the one hand requirements may come from polymer specialists involved in the design and synthesis of new materials who require a detailed understanding of the relationship between the precise molecular architecture and the properties of the polymer in order to improve its capabilities and range of applications. On the other hand, many analysts who are not polymer specialists are faced with the problems of analysing and testing a wide range of polymeric materials for quality control or material specification purposes. We hope this book will be a useful reference for all scientists and techno or industrial laboratories, logists involved with polymers, whether in academic and irrespective of their scientific discipline. We have attempted to include in one volume all of the most important techniques. Obviously it is not possible to do this in any great depth but we have encouraged the use of specific examples to illustrate the range of possibilities. In addition numerous references are given to more detailed texts on specific subjects, to direct the reader where appropriate. The book is divided into II chapters."

Assessing the quality of textiles using textile microscopy remains one of the important instruments for permanent process improvement in the fiber, textile and apparel industries. The degree of international interlinking in the textile producing and finishing industries and their markets demands dearly defined and reproducible methods of detecting damage or defects at all process stages. This book -Quality Assessment of Textiles -Damage Detection by Microsco- py - has in the meantime established itself so well as "the Mahall" in research institute laboratories investigating defects, in universities and colleges, in the training of textile chemists and technologists, and in the industry and the retail trade, that it has become necessary to bring out a new edition. This edition has been revised and supplemented by Mr. Mahall and his succes- sor Ms. Irmhild Goebel and her staff. Cognis, as the successor organization continuing the textile business of the for- mer Textile Technology department of Henkel, is pleased to make this new edi- tion available to specialists, to students and to any other interested readers. June 2002 Dr. U. Kloubert (Cognis Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG) Prof E. Finnimore (Fachhochschule Hof, Germany) Foreword to the First Edition Quality is the decisive criterion by which textile industry is measured in the international competition. Today this is particularly true.

The workshop on "Optical Properties of Low Dimensional Silicon sL Structures" was held in Meylan, France on March, I yd, 1993. The workshop took place inside the facilities of France Telecom- CNET. Around 45 leading scientists working on this rapidly moving field were in attendance. Principal support was provided by the Advanced Research Workshop Program of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). French Delegation a l'Armement and CNET gave also a small financial grant, the organisational part being undertaken by the SEE and CNET. There is currently intense research activity worldwide devoted to the optical properties of low dimensional silicon structures. This follow the recent discovery of efficient visible photoluminescence (PL) from highly porous silicon. This workshop was intended to bring together all the leading European scientists and laboratories in order to reveal the state of the art and to open new research fields on this subject. A large number of invited talks took place (12) together with regular contribution (20). The speakers were asked to leave nearly 1/3 of the time to the discussion with the audience, and that promoted both formal and informal discussions between the participants.

The problem of developing metal matrix (MCM) and metal-polymer (MPCM) composite materials is one of the most important in present day materials technology, for its solution is pivotal to the development of a number of leading technologies. The development of new fibrous and lamellar composite materials with improved physico-chemical, electrical, thermal and other properties is a springboard for qualitative scientific and technological advances not only in aerospace and shipbuilding technologies, but also in mechanical, power, electronic, electrical, radio engineering, transport, construction and other industries. The volume reviews the results of research programmes ac complished in recent years by Soviet scientists in the development of composite materials based on aluminium and magnesium matrices, polymatrix composites (composite materials) with metal and polymeric matrices reinforced with boron and carbon fibres, steel wire, fibre glass and other fillers. The volume also reviews present-day physico-chemical fundamen tals and basic principles for developing and optimizing metal matrix composites, and describes the most expedient and efficient methods of MCM and MPCM manufacturing. Special attention is devoted to the issue of manufacturing MCM structural members, and their machin ing and plastic working, as well as to coupling techniques."

In Physical and Technical Problems of SOI Structures and Devices, specialists in silicon-on-insulator technology from both East and West meet for the first time, giving the reader the chance to become acquainted with work from the former Soviet Union, hitherto only available in Russian and barely available to western scientists. Keynote lectures and state-of-the-art presentations give a wide-ranging panorama of the challenges posed by SOI materials and devices, material fabrication techniques, characterisation, device and circuit issues.

Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) is now playing an increasing role in our modern global economy; in security sensitive industries, for instance. The complexity of the inspection task and either large or limited lot runs now require more operator-assisted or fully- automated signal processing. This book deals with both fields of expertise: NDE and signal processing. On the signal processing side, in the particular context of NDE applications, the following topics are discussed: sensor fusion, signal knowledge representation, artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic, computer vision, integration of numeric and non-numeric informations, parallel decomposition, noise processing and calibration of sensor devices as well as reliability of detection. Some hardware considerations are introduced as well, to discuss platforms on which processing is done. On the NDE side, applications include advances in holographic interferometry, microwave resonance or shearography and also on more traditional NDE techniques such as ultrasonics, infrared techniques, X-ray, computed tomography, Eddy currents. Inverse problems are also discussed. This book is required reading for those who already have some experience in one or both fields (signal processing and/or NDE).

Larry L. Hench June Wilson OBJECTIVE Millions of people presently enjoy an improved quality of life due to prostheses which repair, augment or replace parts of their skeletal system: bones, joints, teeth, etc. However, all replacement parts have a finite probability of survival. The goal of this book is to compare the survivability data for various skeletal prosthesis systems. All data derive from previously published clinical studies. Where possible statistical comparisons are made and the reasons for failure are discussed. THE NEED FOR SKELETAL PROSTHESES We are an aging population with more than 100 million people in the U. S. and Europe over the age of 50 years. An unfortunate consequence of aging is a progressive deterioration of the quality of skeletal tissues. From the age of 30 years there is a decrease in bone mass for both men and women (Fig. 1. 1). However, for women it is much greater and between 40 and 60 years of age the rate of deterioration of long bones and vertebrae of women is especially severe due to hormonal changes. By the age of 70 most women will have lost from 35 to 60% of their bone mass. The loss of volume of cancellous or trabecular bone leads to a large decrease in mechanical compressive strength (Fig. 1. 2). The clinical consequence is an increasing incidence of vertebral collapse. Cortical bone decreases in tensile strength with age (Fig. 1.

This volume chronicles the proceedings of the Third Symposium on Metallized Plastics: Fundamental and Applied Aspects held under the auspices of the Dielectric Science and Technology Division of the Electrochemical Society in Phoenix, Arizona, October 13-18, 1991. This series of symposia to address the subject of metallized plastics was initiated in 1988 and the premier symposium was held in Chicago, October 10-12, 1988, followed by the second event in Montreal, Canada, May 7-10, 1990. The rroceedings of these two symposia have been properly documented ,2. The third symposium was a huge success like the previous two events, and all this is testimonial to the brisk interest and high tempo of R&D activity in the fie14 of metallized plastics. This further bolsters our earlier thinking that there was a conspicuous need to hold symposia on this topic on a regular basis and the fourth is planned for May 16-21, 1993 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The study of metallized plastics constitutes an important human endeavor l and as pointed out earlier there are myriad applications of metallized plastics ranging from very commonplace to exotic. Also a survey of the recent literature will reveal that both the fundamental and applied aspects of metallized plastics are being pursued with great vigor.

Conventional optical science and technology have been restricted by the diffraction limit from reducing the sizes of optical and photoruc devices to nanometric dimensions. Thus, the size of optical integrated circuits has been incompatible with that of their counterpart, integrated electronic circuits, which have much smaller dimensions. This book provides potential ideas and methods to overcome this difficulty. Near-field optics has developed very rapidly from around the middle 1980s after preliminary trials in the microwave frequency region, as proposed as early as 1928. At the early stages of this development, most technical efforts were devoted to realizing super-high-resolution optical microscopy beyond the diffraction limit. However, the possibility of exploiting the optical near-field, phenomenon of quasistatic electromagnetic interaction at subwavelength distances between nanometric particles has opened new ways to nanometric optical science and technology, and many applications to nanometric fabrication and manipulation have been proposed and implemented. Building on this historical background, this book describes recent progress in near-field optical science and technology, mainly using research of the author's groups. The title of this book, Near-Field Nano-Optics-From Basic Principles to Nano-Fabrication and Nano-Photonics, implies capabilities of the optical near field not only for imaging/microscopy, but also for fabrication/manipulation/proc essing on a nanometric scale.

Catalysis and catalyst is a key technology to solve the problems in energy and environment issues to sustain our human society. We believe that comprehensive understanding of the catalysis and catalyst provides us a chance to develop a new catalyst and contributes greatly to our society. However, the ?eld of heterogeneous catalyst is dif?cultto study andstill stays behindmoredeveloped?elds ofchemistry such as organic and physical chemistries. This is a dilemma to the chemists who study the catalysis and catalyst. While we can accomplish the progress in the - dustrial application, the scienti?c understandingis not complete yet. A gap between the useful application and incomplete scienti?c understanding, however, becomes smaller and smaller in recent years. Because zeolites are ?ne crystals, and the structure is clearly known, the study on the catalysis using the zeolites is easier than those encountered in other catalysts such as metals and metal oxides. Very fortunately, zeolites provide us the strong acidity with the ?ne distribution which enables various useful catalytic reactions. When some metals and cations are loaded in close to the acid sites, these loadede- ments show extraordinarycharacters, and many catalytic reactions proceed thereon.

This book represents a collection of papers presented at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (NATO/ARW) on "Science and Technology of Rapid Solidification and Processing", held at Hotel Thayer, West Point Military Academy, New York, N. Y. , during June 21-24, 1994. The workshop was attended by over forty scientists representing several NATO member countries as well as representatives from Japan, China (PRC), Taiwan and India. The purpose of this NATO/ARW conference was to review the major advances made in most recent years in both the theoretical and experimental areas of rapid solidification technology and processing. In accordance with the NATO/ARW format, the agenda for the conference was so arranged to offer in depth presentation of the latest developments in the subject area as well as to encourage follow-up discussions by the participants. There was seven sessions each opened with a lecture by an invited guest speaker. Sessions 1-4, covered two days of the conference and focused mainly on Processing Technologies of Rapid Solidification and Thermodynamic Properties (Practical Applications). Sessions 4-6 concentrated on Thermodynamics of Metastable Alloys, Relaxation, Diffusion, Magnetic and Electric Properties (Fundamentals). Session 6 was devoted to the Structural Characterization of Supercooled Melts, Ultra Fine Polycrystalline Materials (New Innovations and Techniques). There were two equally important aspects of this NATO/ARW conference which must be mentioned. Firstly, this is the first NATO/ARW conference on Science and Technology of Rapid Solidification and Processing held in the United States.

This volume entitled "Protective Coatings and Thin Films : Synthesis, Characterization and Applications" contains the Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) held in Alvor, Portugal from May 30 to June 5, 1996. This NATO-ARW was an expert meeting on the surface protection and modification of solid materials subjected to interactions with the environment. The meeting attracted 10 key speakers, 40 contributing speakers and 3 observers from various countries. The existing knowledge and current status of the science and technology related to protective coatings and thin films were assessed through a series of oral presentations, key notes (titles underlined in the volume content) and contributed papers distributed over various sessions dealing with: (a) plasma-assisted physical and chemical vapor deposition processes to enhance wear and corrosion protection of materials, (b) low friction coatings operating in hostile environment (vacuum, space, extreme temperatures, . . . ), (c) polymer films for protection against mechanical damage and chemical attack, (d) characterization of the structure of films and correlations with mechanical properties, (e) wear and corrosion resistant thermal spray coatings, (f) functional gradient ceramic/metallic coatings produced by high energy laser beam and energetic deposition processes for high temperature applications, (g) protective coatings for optical systems, and (h) ion beam assisted deposition of coatings for protection of materials against aqueous corrosion.

The first NATO Advanced Study Institute on Olefin Metathesis and Polymerization Catalysts was held on September 10-22, 1989 in Akcay, Turkey. Based on the fundamental research of RRSchrock, RGrubbs and K.B.Wagener in the field of ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP), acyclic diene metathesis (ADMET) and alkyne polymerization, these areas gained growing interest within the last years. Therefore the second NATO-ASI held on metathesis reactions was on Ring Opening Metathesis Po lymerization of Olefins and Polymerization of Alkynes on September 3-16, 1995 in Akcay, Turkey. The course joined inorganic, organic and polymer chemists to exchange their knowledge in this field. This volume contains the main and short lectures held in Akcay. To include ADMET reactions better into the title of this volume we changed it into: Metathesis Polymerization of Olefins and Alkyne Polymerization. This volume is addressed to research scientists, but also to those who start to work in the area of olefin metathesis and alkyne polymerization. The topics of the course were: mechanism of ROMP reactions/ new catalysts for ROMP/ new products by ROMP/ new catalysts for ADMET/ new products by ADMETI degradation of polymer by metathesis reactions/ alkyne polymerization and metathesis/ industrial application of metathesis reactions. The Advanced Study Institute was generously sponsored by the Scientific Affairs Division of NATO and the editor gratefully acknowledges this sponsorship. We also thank the Members of the Local Organizing Committee for their engagement on a successful NATO-AS ."

In this monograph the theory and methods of solving inverse Stefan problems for quasilinear parabolic equations in regions with free boundaries are developed. The study of this new class of ill-posed problems is motivated by the needs of the mod eling and control of nonlinear processes with phase transitions in thermophysics and mechanics of continuous media. Inverse Stefan problems are important for the perfection of technologies both in high temperature processes (e.g., metallurgy, the aircraft industry, astronautics and power engineering) and in hydrology, exploitation of oil-gas fields, etc. The proposed book will complete a gap in these subjects in the preceding re searches of ill-posed problems. It contains the new theoretical and applied studies of a wide class of inverse Stefan problems. The statements of such problems on the determination of boundary functions and coefficients of the equation are considered for different types of additional information about their solution. The variational method of obtaining stable approximate solutions is proposed and established. It is implemented by an efficient computational scheme of descriptive regularization. This algorithm utilizes a priori knowledge of the qualitative structure of the sought solution and ensures a substantial saving in computational costs. It is tested on model and applied problems in nonlinear thermophysics. In particular, the results of calculations for important applications in continuous casting of ingots and in the melting of a plate with the help of laser technology are presented."

An assessment of the recent achievements and relative strengths of two developing techniques for characterising surfaces at the nanometer scale: (i) local probe methods, including scanning tunnelling microscopy and its derivatives; and (ii) nanoscale photoemission and absorption spectroscopy for chemical analysis. The keynote lectures were delivered by some of the world's best scientists in the field and some of the topics covered include: (1) The possible application of STM in atomically resolved chemical analysis. (2) The principles of scanning force/friction and scanning near-field optical microscopes. (3) The scanning photoemission electron microscopes built at ELETTRA and SRRC, with a description of synchrotron radiation microscopy. (4) Recent progress in the development of spatially-resolved photoelectron microscopy, especially the use of zone plate photon optics. (5) The present status of non-scanning photoemission microscopy with slow electrons. (6) the BESSY 2 project for a non-scanning photoelectron microscope with electron optics. (7) Spatially-resolved in situ reaction studies of chemical waves and oscillatory phenomena with the UV photoemission microscope.

This volume contains papers presented at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) on Photons and Local Probes. The workshop had two predecessors. The first was the NATO ARW on Near Field Optics, held in October 1992 at Arc et Senans and was organized by Daniel Courjon and Dieter Pohl. The other predecessor was a workshop on Photons and Scanning Probe Microscopies held at the University of Konstanz in July 1992. The workshop on Photons and Local Probes was held at the Loechnerhaus on the Reichenau Island at the Lake of Constance, from September 11 to 17, 1994. The Reichenau Island was an important place in Europe in the middle age. Even the tomb of one of the carolingian emperors, Charles the Fat, is located there. At this workshop more than 60 scientists from Europe and the United States met to communicate their latest results in the field of local probes in combination with optical techniques. In eight sessions 31 talks as well as 9 posters were presented. Among those 31 publications were submitted for publication in the NATO proceedings. They were accepted after a strict, but constructive refereeing process.

After an introduction by J.G. Bednorz, describing the discovery of high Tc superconductivity and its consequences, the book goes on to describe modern research, dealing with general problems, new materials and structures, phase separation, electronic homogeneities and related problems, and applications. Specific systems dealt with include the La-cuprates. the Bi-cuprates and the Y-cuprates and related compounds.

Advanced composite materials have been a major research focus for the past forty years. As a reinforcement for conventional materials including glass, ceramics and polymers, carbon has proved to be the most successful. Carbon gives these materials flexibility so that they may be produced in bulk form with a wide variety of properties. Whereas carbon/carbon composites are the most effective materials in extreme temperature conditions. Application ranges from brakes to missile nose cones. Carbon Reinforcements and Carbon/Carbon Composites gives the present state on this subject in comprehensive form, as well as projections for other "High Tech" materials and their application.

Significant progress has been made in recent years in developing silicon nitride ceramics. The advances that have been achieved are mainly based on an increasing understanding of processing and microstructure-properties relationships. New analytical methods and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) coupled with extensive phase equilibria studies have provided new insights into the grain boundary region and offer the possibility to tailor the microstructure for specific applications. Because of the anticipated break-through in industrial applications there are still considerablt; research activities at industrial laboratories as well as other research centres. This volume presents the contributions to the international workshop "Tailoring ofHigh- Temperature Properties of Si3N4-Ceramics" with 60 participants from 12 countries held on 6th - 9th October 1993 at SchloB Ringberg in Germany, the conference site of the Max- Planck-Society. Additionally, it contains all invited papers of the International Conference "Silicon Nitride 93" held before the workshop on 4th - 6th October 1993 in Stuttgart/Germany. The book covers all recent research activities on silicon nitride ceramics and gives an overview with respect to recent developments.

It has been ten years since I presented the paper entitled "A new model and theory on yield and failure of materials under the complex stress state" at the Sixth Conference on Mechanical Behaviour of Materials held at Kyoto, Japan in 1991. The proceedings edited by Jono and Inoue were published by Pergamon Press in 1991. At that conference Professor Murakami and I were invited to act as the chairperson and co-chairperson of a session, and I presented the paper at another session. Few days before the conference, I had given a seminar regarding the tw- shear strength theory and the unified strength theory at Nagoya Technological University. These were the first two presentations of the unified strength theory, although I had completed the research of the unified strength theory in 1990. The paper "Twin-shear strength theory and its generalization" was published in the English edition of Sciences in China, the top journal in China, in 1985. The th original generalized twin-shear strength theory was presented at the 16 International Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Congress held at Copenhagen in Denmark and MPA (MaterialPrufungsAnstalt) at Stuttgart University, Germany in 1984. After this Congress I visited the MPA and School of Civil Engineering of Stuttgart University, and gave a seminar regarding the generalized twin-shear strength theory at MPA of Stuttgart University. Professor Otto Mohr (1835-1918) has had worked at the Stuttgart University. He was a very good professor, his lectures aroused great interest in his students."

CONJUGATED POLYMERS: THE IMTERPLAY BETWEEN SYNTHESIS, 1 STRUCTURE, AND PROPERTIES C. B. GORMAN and R. H. GRUBBS 1. Introduction 2 2. Structural Features of Conjuqated. Polyaers 3 3. Polymer Synthesis: Basic Methods 4 3. 1 Step-Growth Polymerization 5 3. 2 Chain-Growth Polymerization 6 3. 3 Rinq-Openinq Polymerization 8 4. Direct Synthetic Methods 8 4. 1 Electrochemical Synthesis 9 4. 2 Synthesis by Step-Growth Polymerization 11 4. 2. 1 Polyaniline (PAN) 11 4. 2. 2 Poly(Phenylene Sulfide) 12 4. 2. 3 Poly thiophene and its Derivatives 13 4. 2. 4 Other 5-membered Heterocyclic 16 Derivatives 4. 2. 5 Polyparaphenylene (PPP) 17 4. 2. 6 Polysilanes 18 4. 2. 7 Polymers of Phthalocyanines 19 4. 2. 8 Other Conjugated Metal Coordination 20 Polymers 4. 2. 9 Ladder Polymers 21 4. 3 The Unusual Topochemical Polymerization to 23 form Polydiacetylenes 4. 4 Chain-Growth Polymerizations 24 4. 4. 1 Polyacetylene via Ziegler-Natta 24 Polymerization 4. 4. 2 Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization 26 Routes to Polyacetylenes 5. Polymers fro. precursors 27 5. 1 Polyparaphenylene (PPP) 27 5. 2 Poly(Phenylene Vinylene) (PPV) and Other 28 Vinylene Polymers 5. 3 Precursors to Polyacetylene 29 6. Extentions of these Methods in the Synthesis of 31 *saall-Bandqap* Pplymers 7. Conjuqated. Polymer Matrices 33 8. Conclusions and Caveats 35 Acknowled. qements 36 References 36 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS PROPERTIES OF HIGHLY CONDUCTIHG POLYACETYLEHE 49 Th. SCHIMMEL, D. GLASER, M. SCHWOERER AND H. NAARMANN 1. Introduction 50 2. SBIlpie Synthesis, lIorphology and Properties 52 2.

Recent advances in our understanding of complex composite media, especially chiral media for microwave applications, suggest the feasibility of creating novel materials with unusual properties and the possibility of constructing new microwave devices using such materials. The emphasis of the book is on bi-anisotropic materials, whose most interesting feature is the magnetoelectric interaction of the fields. The materials are expected to supply useful applications in radar technology, aerospace, microwave engineering, manufacturing technology, etc., such as absorbers for low-reflectivity shields, reciprocal phase shifters, polarization transformers. The first experiments with artificial bi-anisotropic media have been successfully carried out.

This volume is based on the proceedings of the NATO-sponsored Advanced Studies Institute (ASn on The New Superconducting Electronics (held 9-20 August 1992 in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire USA). The contents herein are intended to provide an update to an earlier volume on the same subject (based on a NATO ASI held in 1988). Four years seems a relatively short time interval, and our title itself, featuring The New Superconducting Electronics, may appear somewhat pretentious. Nevertheless, we feel strongly that the ASI fostered a timely reexamination of the technical progress and application potential of this rapid-paced field. There are, indeed, many new avenues for technological innovation which were not envisioned or considered possible four years ago. The greatest advances by far have occurred with regard to oxide superconductors, the so-called high transition-temperature superconductors, known in short as HTS. These advances are mainly in the ability to fabricate both (1) high-quality, relatively large-area films for microwave filters and (2) multilayer device structures, principally superconducting-normal-superconducting (SNS) Josephson junctions, for superconducting-quantum-interference-device (SQUID) magnetometers. Additionally, we have seen the invention and development of the flux-flow transistor, a planar three-terminal device. During the earlier ASI only the very first HTS films with adequate critical-current density had just been fabricated, and these were of limited area and had high resistance for microwave current."

Five questions dominated the ARW on Physics and Materials Science of High Temperature Superconductors, of which this book forms the permanent record. Briefly, these are: (i) How close are we to a unified theory? The consensus is that we are not. (ii) Flux pinning: can it be achieved in bulk materials? Still an open question. The following three questions are related. (iii) Can grain boundary contributions be brought under control? (iv) What is the real requirement for purity and general chemistry control? (v)What is the practical outlook for bulk products - tapes and wires? One of the conclusions is that the geometry and dimensions in thin films are the key parameters that facilitate the realization of high current densities and, consequently, their commercial application. On the other hand, the very large number of poorly understood microstructural, chemical and mechanical variables involved in the preparation of bulk materials are currently prohibiting large scale commercialization of wires and tapes.

FRANCIS W. HOLM 7102 Meadow Lane, Chevy Chase, MD 20815 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) sponsored an Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) in Prague, Czech Republic, on 1-2 July 1996, to collect and study information on mobile alternative and supplemental demilitarization technologies and to report these fmdings. The mobile, or transportable, technologies identified for assessment at the workshop are alternatives to incineration technology for destruction of munitions, chemical warfare agent, and associated materials and debris. Although the discussion focused on the treatment of metal parts and explosive or energetic material, requirements for decontamination of other materials were discussed. The mobile alternative technologies are grouped into three categories based on process bulk operating temperature: low (0-200 C), medium (200-600 C), and high (600- 3,500 C). Reaction types considered include hydrolysis, biodegradation, electrochemical oxidation, gas-phase high-temperature reduction, stearn reforming, gasification, sulfur reactions, solvated electron chemistry, sodium reactions, supercritical water oxidation, wet air oxidation, and plasma torch technology. These categories represent a broad spectrum of processes, some of which have been studied only in the laboratory and some of which are in commercial use for destruction of hazardous and toxic wastes. Some technologies have been developed and used for specific commercial applications; however, in all cases, research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT &E) is necessary to assure that each technology application is effective for destroying chemical warfare materiel.