This multi-authored book includes selected contributions reviewing the results achieved in the synthesis and characterization of organized polymeric materials. The focus is on competitive materials with liquid crystalline or electroconductive properties. The fine tuning of the properties offered by advanced chemical synthesis has been investigated by a large number of state-of-the-art techniques, including both microscopic (ESR, NMR, dielectrometry, fluorescence, IR, Raman spectroscopy) and macroscopic (calorimetric, mechanical) methodologies. The book also provides an updated coverage of the most challenging applications of organized polymers as functional materials in the fields of electrooptical devices, information retrieval and organic electroconductors.

The first concern of scientists who are interested in synthetic polymers has always been, and still is: How are they synthesized? But right after this comes the question: What have I made, and for what is it good? This leads to the important topic of the structure-property relations to which this book is devoted. Polymers are very large and very complicated systems; their character ization has to begin with the chemical composition, configuration, and con formation of the individual molecule. The first chapter is devoted to this broad objective. The immediate physical consequences, discussed in the second chapter, form the basis for the physical nature of polymers: the supermolecular interactions and arrangements of the individual macromolecules. The third chapter deals with the important question: How are these chemical and physical structures experimentally determined? The existing methods for polymer characterization are enumerated and discussed in this chapter. The following chapters go into more detail. For most applications-textiles, films, molded or extruded objects of all kinds-the mechanical and the thermal behaviors of polymers are of pre ponderant importance, followed by optical and electric properties. Chapters 4 through 9 describe how such properties are rooted in and dependent on the chemical structure. More-detailed considerations are given to certain particularly important and critical properties such as the solubility and permeability of polymeric systems. Macromolecules are not always the final goal of the chemist-they may act as intermediates, reactants, or catalysts. This topic is presented in Chapters 10 and 11.

The book is intended to reveal the correlation between the chemical structure and the physical characteristics of plastics necessary for appropriate material selection, design, and processing. The entire spectrum of plastics is addressed, including thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers, and blends. One of the special features is the extensive discussion and explanation of the interdependence between polymer structure and properties and processing. Polymeric Materials contains several application-oriented examples and is presented at an intermediate level for both practicing plastic engineers and advanced engineering students. Contents: · General Characteristics of Polymeric Materials · Molecular Structure and Synthesis of Polymers · Structure of Polymeric Materials · Thermomechanical Properties · Mechanical Behaviour · Aging and Stabilization · Overview of Selected Polymeric Materials · Guide Values of the Physical Properties

From the Authors Introduction Diffusion is one of the few manageable nonequilibrium pro- cesses during which matter is transported through a system. Traditionally, diffusion is studied in physical chemistry; however, the fundamental understanding of diffusion processes is not possible without involving statistical physics. Diffusion in disordered systems, such as in polymers, has sometimes unexpected features, the nature of which has not yet been determined. Since modern technology involves more and more complex materials which rely on a subtle balance of microscopic effects, the understanding of diffusion processes in these materials is of paramount importance from the practical point of view. A renewed interest in the basic principles of diffusion is a direct result of new experimental data. This was a contributing factor in the preparation of this text. In the first chapter, the phenomenological thermodynamic basics of diffusion is reviewed, and the diffusion equation is derived from the principles of irreversible thermodynamics. The basic mathematical apparatus for solving diffusion equations is reviewed in the second chapter. The third chapter deals mainly with the vast amount of experimental data dealing with diffusion in polymers. . . . A reader interested in particular polymeric systems can use the . . . material as a useful introduction. The last chapter contains basic information concerning random walks and their application to the diffusion in disordered systems. The theory of random walks is widely used in polymer physics where it is usually combined with statistical mechanics to formulate various models of polymeric systems. Finally, useful mathematical formulas and references to the original sources of some mathematical methods are [provided] in the appendices. Some physical constants associated with several polymer solvent systems are also presented.

A concise, illustrated presentation of polymer structure and bonding. The well constructed organization and index make the book readily usable as a reference book. Those who read the entire text will be well rewarded with a solid understanding of the fundamentals of polymer properties and possible applications. This book will most certainly remain a valuable reference for years to come.

The book is intended to reveal the correlation between the chemical structure and the physical characteristics of plastics necessary for appropriate material selection, design, and processing. The entire spectrum of plastics is addressed, including thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers, and blends. One of the special features is the extensive discussion and explanation of the interdependence between polymer structure and properties and processing.

This book contains a collection of original research papers which were presented in honor of the Bordon Award recipient, Professor Eric Baer, on the occasion of the 55th Meeting of the American Chemical Society (Atlanta, Georgia, March, 1981). The contributors are present or former colleagues and students who have worked with him in the Department of Macromolecular Science at Case Institute of Technology of Case Western Reserve University. Throughout his work, Eric Baer has attempted to find the relation ships of solid state structure and hierarchy to the resultant pro perties from which specific functions are derived. Although he has studied many seemingly unrelated subjects, from irreversible de formation, mechanics and yield processes in amorphous polymeric solids to structural organization and mechanical function of ten don, his unique goal has been to develop models from the real structure that would allow a quantitative description of properties. Today, this area of "microscience" is rapidly expanding as new and sophisticated applications of polymeric materials with multifunc tional properties are emerging from our understanding and control of the solid state. The wide-ranging ideas and the original ity of Professor Baer's contributions have stimulated many new concepts which are now widely accepted in the field of high polymers. The contributions to this volume represent many of the areas which he has explored.