The emergence of reaction injection molding (RIM) has been fol lowed by the industry with mounting interest. RIM technology has brought to polymer processing a new flexibility and savings in both energy and capital investment. The new developments and the number of engineers and scientists working in RIM is growing at so fast a rate that there is need for sharing information on progress in this area. This book is based on papers presented at the International Symposium on Reaction Injection Molding which was held in 1981 in Atlanta, Georgia, and was sponsored by the American Chemical Society, Division of Organic Coatings and Plastics Chemistry. The book is divided into four parts covering different areas of RIM development. The first part is devoted to the future trends of RIM develop ment in the United States and Japan. The structure-properties relationship and effects of annealing on properties of RIM elastomers are covered in the second part. New non-urethane polymers such as polyamides, polyisocyanurates and polystyrene suitable for RIM processing are discussed in the third part. In the last part the engineering and technological aspects of RIM, such as glass reinforcement, mixing, flow and moldability are covered in detail. Finally I would like to thank Mrs. Iris Glebe for typing this book and for help with editing, and K. Zielinski for his assistance v vi PREFACE in reviewing and, when necessary, correcting some of the papers. Thanks is also due to the editors of Plenum for their patience and helpfulness.

Edwin J. Vandenberg, a long time researcher at the Research Center of Hercules Incorporated, was the 1981 winner of the American Chemical Society Award in Polymer Chemistry, sponsored by the Witco Chemical Corp. Following is the citation of the accomplishments which led to this award. "In recognition of his pioneering research that advanced polymer science and that led to the discovery and development of isotactic polypropylene, epichlorohydrin and propylene oxide elastomers, new polymerization catalysts, and the hydrogen method of controlling molecular weights of Ziegler polyolefins." It was my pleasure to arrange a symposium to celebrate this award at the Atlanta Meeting of the American Chemical Society on March 30, 1981. In considering the broad range of Vandenberg's contributions to polymer chemistry, it was decided to choose the subject of "Coordination Polymerization" for the symposium. This area is both one to which Vandenberg has made major contributions and one of great industrial and scientific interest. Since Vandenberg has been involved in coordination polymerization in both ring-opening and a-olefin type polymerizations, both were covered in the symposium, whose program follows. 1. "The Polymerization of 1,2-Epoxides Catalyzed by the Condensation Products of Metal-Containing Compounds with Alkylphosphates", T. Nakata, Research Laboratories, Osaka Soda Co., Ltd., 9 Otakasu-cho, Amagasaki City, Hyogo Pref. 660, Japan.

Ever since the beginning of the plastics and rubber industry, it was realized that useful products could be produced only if cer tain additives were incorporated into polymers. With the help of these additives, when physically dispersed in a polymer matrix, it has been possible to improve stability against thermal, oxidative, UV, hydrolytic and biological degradation, mechanical properties, flammability, cost, and processibility of plastics. The enormous growth of the volume of plastics consumed by modern society, and new application areas for plastics, have created a demand for new, better additives and better understanding of their functions in polymer systems. As a result of these trends there is a need for sharing of information on progress achieved in the area of polymer additives among engineers and scientists of the plastics industry and academia. This book is based on expanded and updated papers originally presented at the International Symposium on Polymer Additives, which was held in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was sponsored by the American Chemical Society, Division of Polymeric Materials Science and Engi neering. The book is divided into five parts which cover advances in various areas of polymer additives. The first part is devoted to the progress in understanding of UV degradation and stabilization of various polymers. Oxidation degradation and stabilization of plastic materials is covered in the second part. New developments in the stabilization of PVC are presented in the third part.

On this, the dawning of a new age in high technology, man is seeking answers to increasingly complex problems. We are routinely launching reusable vehicles into space, designing and building computers with seemingly limitless powers, and developing sophisticated communications systems using laser technology, fiber optics, holography, etc., all of which require new and advanced materials. Polymer alloys continue to provide new solutions to the materials problems, and remain an area of ever increasing research. Polymer alloys are mu1ticomponent macromolecular systems. The components may be all on the same chain (as in block co polymers), on side chains (as in graft copolymers), or in different molecules (as in po1yb1ends and interpenetrating polymer networks). The variety of morphologies possible and the synergistic effects on ultimate properties continue to stimulate research on new polymer alloys. More and more studies on synthesis of new alloys, the kinetics and mecha nisms of their formation, and their characterization, are taking place, as well as studies on their processing and applications. This book presents the proceedings of the Symposium on Polymer Alloys, sponsored by the American Chemical Society's Division of OrganiC Coatings and Plastics Chemistry held at the 182nd meeting of the American Chemical Society in New York, in August, 1981. The most recent efforts of scientists and engineers from allover the world in this increasingly important field are presented in the following pages.

Phase transfer catalysis or interfacial catalysis is a syn thetic technique involving transport of an organic or inorganic salt from a solid or aqueous phase into an organic liquid where reaction with an organic-soluble substrate takes place. Over the past 15 years there has been an enormous amount of effort invested in the development of this technique in organic synthe sis. Several books and numerous review articles have appeared summarizing applications in which low molecular weight catalysts are employed. These generally include either crown ethers or onium salts of various kinds. While the term phase transfer catalysis is relatively new, the concept of using a phasetrans fer agent (PTA) is much older~ Both Schnell and Morgan employed such catalysts in synthesis of polymeric species in the early 1950's. Present developments are really extensions of these early applications. It has only been within the last several years that the use of phase transfer processes have been employed in polymer synthesis and modification. Similarly, the use of polymer-bound phase transfer agents is also a recent development. These and related areas have nonetheless enjoyed explosive growth as mea sured by the number of publications and the variety of applica tions which have appeared. Several reviews dealing with these l 6 polymer-related investigations have been published.

For there is hope of a tree, If it be cut down, That it will sprout again And that the tender branch Thereof will not cease. Job XIV (7) Mankind has been blessed with a multitude of resources. In the beginning he utilized almost soley replenishable items such as vegetation and animal protein, for both nourishment and shelter. Gradually, such metals as copper and iron were developed and replaced wood as a material of construction. Cement and glass, although more plentiful than other minerals, also replaced the use of growing sub stances. Coal and oil became the primary sources of heat and power. Closer to the focus of this book, petroleum products began to replace the vegetable oils, tannin, wool, cotton, leather, silk, rubber, etc. in a host of applications. Surely, it was argued, the new materials did the job better and cheaper. What they didn't say is that soon we would run out of oil. In any case, research on growing natural products, now called renewable resources, slowed, and these industries sought only to maintain their status quo. The 20th Century saw an unprecedented emphasis and dependence on nonrenewable resources as energy sources (petroleum, coal, ura nium) and the fabric of technology (drugs, clothing, shelter, tires, computer parts). The predawn of the 21st Century brings a reali zation that a cyclic shift back towards the use of renewable re sources for technological application is in order.