"the present book will be of great value for both newcomers to the field and mature active researchers by serving as a coherent and timely introduction to some of the modern approaches, ideas, results, emerging understanding, and many open questions in this fascinating field of polymer glasses, supercooled liquids, and thin films" –Kenneth S. Schweizer, Morris Professor of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (from the Foreword) This book provides a timely and comprehensive overview of molecular level insights into polymer glasses in confined geometries and under deformation. Polymer glasses have become ubiquitous to our daily life, from the polycarbonate eyeglass lenses on the end of our nose to large acrylic glass panes holding water in aquarium tanks, with advantages over glass in that they are lightweight and easy to manufacture, while remaining transparent and rigid. The contents include an introduction to the field, as well as state of the art investigations. Chapters delve into studies of commonalities across different types of glass formers (polymers, small molecules, colloids, and granular materials), which have enabled microscopic and molecular level frameworks to be developed. The authors show how glass formers are modeled across different systems, thereby leading to treatments for polymer glasses with first-principle based approaches and molecular level detail. Readers across disciplines will benefit from this topical overview summarizing the key areas of polymer glasses, alongside an introduction to the main principles and approaches.

Composite materials are engineered materials, made from two or more constituents with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate on a macroscopic level within the finished structure. Due to their special mechanical and physical properties they have the potential to replace conventional materials.

A complete and timely overview of the topic, this Encyclopedia imparts knowledge of fundamental principles and their applications for academicians, scientists and researchers, while informing engineers, industrialists and entrepreneurs of the current state of the technology and its utilization. The most comprehensive source on polymer blends available on the market Offers a complete and timely overview of the topic Each article presents up to date research & development on a topic and its basic principles and applications, integrates case studies, laboratory and pilot plant experiments, and gives due reference to published and patented literature Equips academics, scientists and researchers with knowledge of fundamentals principles and their applications, and informs the engineers, industrialists and entrepreneurs about the state of the art technology and its applications

Describes and interrelates the following processes: cooperative alpha processes in a cold liquid, structural relaxation in the glass near Tg, the Johari-Goldstein beta process, the Williams-Götze process in a warm liquid, fast nonactivated cage rattling and boson peak, and ultraslow Fischer modes.

This book bridges disparate fields in an exploration of the phenomena and applications surrounding molecular mobility in glassy materials experiencing inelastic deformation. The subjects of plastic deformation and polymer motion/interdiffusion currently belong to the two different fields of continuum mechanics and polymer physics, respectively. However, molecular motion associated with plastic deformation is a key ingredient to gain fundamental understanding, both at the macroscopic and microscopic level. This short monograph provides necessary background in the aforementioned fields before addressing the topic of molecular mobility accompanied by macroscopic inelastic deformation in an accessible and easy-to-understand manner. A new phenomenon of solid-state deformation-induced bonding in polymers is discussed in detail, along with some broad implications in several manufacturing sectors. Open questions pertaining to mechanisms, mechanics, and modeling of deformation-induced bonding in polymers are presented. The book’s clear language and careful explanations will speak to readers of diverse backgrounds.

The author describes a novel method of preparing hydrolysis-stable non-silicate glasses which is based on experimental work accomplished over the past twenty years. As such, the method is the beginning of a new approach to glass-making by the use of a molecularly-polymerizable precursor. The book elucidates the technical details required to produce such molecularly-polymerized glasses from carefully prepared inorganic molecular monomers. Essentially, only silicate-based glasses have been known to be stable, whereas non-silicate glasses could not be attributed with such properties. Such glasses have, therefore, not found widespread usage in industry. The new phosphate glasses described here exhibit stabilities superior to many of the silicate glasses. For example, the nuclear-waste glass shows no measurable loss at all in boiling water, something entirely foreign to the zinc borosilicate glasses developed for nuclear waste encapsulation in the U.S. by Battelle-Northwest. The exceptional stability of the new glasses is achieved by selecting an inorganic compound capable of being polymerized, and then causing it to polymerize in a proper manner, in the absence of chain-stoppers. To obtain glasses equal or superior in hydrolysis stability to silicate-based systems it is imperative to employ molecular polymerization in situ, starting from carefully prepared precursors of exact stoichiometric proportion. Researchers in glass and glass properties will find this volume extremely useful and those involved in organic polymers will be intrigued by the similarities and disparities of the two systems.