This major reference work, covering the important materials science area of gels, is a translation of a Japanese handbook. The three-volume set is organized to cover the following: fundamentals, functions, and environmental issues. Gels Handbook also contains an appendix, complete references, and data on gel compounds.Recently, polymer gels have attracted many scientific researchers, medical doctors, and pharmaceutical, chemical, and agricultural engineers to the rapidly growing field. Gels are considered to be one of the most promising materials in the 21st Century. They are unique in that they are soft, gentle, and can sense and accommodate environmental changes. Because of these unique characteristics gels have a huge potential in technological and medical applications. They are irreplaceable in the separation of molecules, the release of drugs, artificial skins and organs, sensors, actuators, chemical memories, and many other applications.The 21st century is also said to be the century of biotechnology, where two kinds of biopolymers play crucial roles: DNA as a bearer of geneticinformation and proteins as molecular machines. In spite of the dramatic progress in molecular biology and the Human Genome project, the basic principles behind the function and design of such polymeric machines are in the black box. Science and technologies that will emerge from those of polymer gels will shed light on such principles.Some researchers have already developed prototypes of artificial glands (pancreas), artificial muscles and actuators, and chemical sensors and molecular recovery systems using polymer gels.The Gels Handbook is an invaluable source of information on this rapidly growing field. It covers the entire area from the scientific basics to the applications of the materials. The authors are among the leading researchers, doctors, engineers, and patent officers in Japan. This book can be used as a textbook or an encyclopedia and is a must for those involved in gel research or applications. Key Features* Comprehensive coverage of a popular topic in materials science* Is the first english-language gels handbook* Includes numerous figures, tables, and photos

Hydrogels are made from a three-dimensional network of cross linked hydrophilic polymers or colloidal particles that contain a large fraction of water. In recent years, hydrogels have attracted significant attention for a variety of applications in biology and medicine. This has resulted in significant advances in the design and engineering of hydrogels to meet the needs of these applications. This handbook explores significant development of hydrogels from characterization and applications. Volume 1 covers state-of-art knowledge and techniques of fundamental aspects of hydrogel physics and chemistry with an eye on bioengineering applications. Volume 2 explores the use of hydrogels in the interdisciplinary field of tissue engineering. Lastly volume 3 focuses on two important aspects of hydrogels, that is, drug delivery and biosensing. Contains 50 colour pages.

The food technologist who wishes to produce a gelled product is faced with two basic options for achieving the desired effect; whether to use a protein or a polysaccharide. Although a gel can be formed by either a protein or a polysaccharide, the resultant gels have different characteristics: • Polysaccharide gels are characterised by their fine texture and transparency which is achieved at a low polymer concentration. They can be formed by heating and cooling, pH adjustment or specific ion addition . • Protein gels are characterised by a higher polymer concentration (5-10%) and are formed almost exclusively by heat denaturation. Before reaching a final decision, the technologist must take a number of factors into consideration. The purpose of this book is to help the technologist in his choice by providing fundamental practical information, in one book, on the properties of gels (and factors which influence them) for both types of biopolymer. To help the reader, each chapter is (wherever possible) organised in the same way so that, for example, information on structure will always be available in section 2. The examples in the Applications section of each chapter are not meant to be exhaustive, but to illustrate the various ways in which the particular polymer can be used to form a gelled product.

Still widely used as gene markers, isozymes detected by zymogram techniques have proven valuable in a range of other biological applications over the last few years. Along with these new applications, many new techniques have also emerged. Yet more than eight years since the Handbook of Detection of Enzymes on Electrophoretic Gels was first publish

This comprehensive three-volume handbook brings together a review of the current state together with the latest developments in sol-gel technology to put forward new ideas. The first volume, dedicated to synthesis and shaping, gives an in-depth overview of the wet-chemical processes that constitute the core of the sol-gel method and presents the various pathways for the successful synthesis of inorganic and hybrid organic-inorganic materials, bio- and bio-inspired materials, powders, particles and fibers as well as sol-gel derived thin films, coatings and surfaces. The second volume deals with the mechanical, optical, electrical and magnetic properties of sol-gel derived materials and the methods for their characterization such as diffraction methods and nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared and Raman spectroscopies. The third volume concentrates on the various applications in the fields of membrane science, catalysis, energy research, biomaterials science, biomedicine, photonics and electronics.

Hydrogels are made from a three-dimensional network of cross linked hydrophilic polymers or colloidal particles that contain a large fraction of water. In recent years, hydrogels have attracted significant attention for a variety of applications in biology and medicine. This has resulted in significant advances in the design and engineering of hydrogels to meet the needs of these applications. This handbook explores significant development of hydrogels from characterization and applications. Volume 1 covers state-of-art knowledge and techniques of fundamental aspects of hydrogel physics and chemistry with an eye on bioengineering applications. Volume 2 explores the use of hydrogels in the interdisciplinary field of tissue engineering. Lastly volume 3 focuses on two important aspects of hydrogels, that is, drug delivery and biosensing. Contains 50 colour pages.