Encyclopedia of Materials: Plastics and Polymers, Four Volume Set covers plastics and polymeric materials, including their fundamental properties, current and potential future application areas in various private, public, commercial and industrial sectors, and their biodegradability, reusability and disposability. As well as covering all aspects of the science and applications of plastics and polymers, the book expounds on newer developments, including up-to-date articles and knowledge. In addition, the detrimental environmental effects of plastics and polymers are included, along with expertly-written articles that shed light on composites of macro, micro- and nano-particle sized plastic and polymeric materials and biodegradable natural or synthetic materials. This encyclopedia will be most valuable to researchers working at the interface between materials science/chemistry and materials engineering, as well as advanced undergraduates who need to quickly understand a broad range of foundational concepts and the developments that have taken place over time.

Encyclopedia of Renewable and Sustainable Materials, Five Volume Set provides a comprehensive overview, covering research and development on all aspects of renewable, recyclable and sustainable materials. The use of renewable and sustainable materials in building construction, the automotive sector, energy, textiles and others can create markets for agricultural products and additional revenue streams for farmers, as well as significantly reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, manufacturing energy requirements, manufacturing costs and waste. This book provides researchers, students and professionals in materials science and engineering with tactics and information as they face increasingly complex challenges around the development, selection and use of construction and manufacturing materials.

Finish Manufacturing Processes are those final stage processing techniques which are deployed to bring a product to readiness for marketing and putting in service. Over recent decades a number of finish manufacturing processes have been newly developed by researchers and technologists. Many of these developments have been reported and illustrated in existing literature in a piecemeal manner or in relation only to specific applications. For the first time, Comprehensive Materials Finishing, Three Volume Set integrates a wide body of this knowledge and understanding into a single, comprehensive work. Containing a mixture of review articles, case studies and research findings resulting from R & D activities in industrial and academic domains, this reference work focuses on how some finish manufacturing processes are advantageous for a broad range of technologies. These include applicability, energy and technological costs as well as practicability of implementation. The work covers a wide range of materials such as ferrous, non-ferrous and polymeric materials. There are three main distinct types of finishing processes: Surface Treatment by which the properties of the material are modified without generally changing the physical dimensions of the surface; Finish Machining Processes by which a small layer of material is removed from the surface by various machining processes to render improved surface characteristics; and Surface Coating Processes by which the surface properties are improved by adding fine layer(s) of materials with superior surface characteristics. Each of these primary finishing processes is presented in its own volume for ease of use, making Comprehensive Materials Finishing an essential reference source for researchers and professionals at all career stages in academia and industry.