To the surprise of practically no one, research and engineering on multi polymer materials has steadily increased through the 1960s and 1970s. More and more people are remarking that we are running out of new monomers to polymerize, and that the improved polymers of the future will depend heavily on synergistic combinations of existing materials. In the era of the mid-1960s, three distinct multipolymer combinations were recognized: polymer blends, grafts, and blocks. Although inter penetrating polymer networks, lPNs, were prepared very early in polymer history, and already named by Millar in 1960, they played a relatively low-key role in polymer research developments until the late 1960s and 1970s. I would prefer to consider the IPNs as a subdivision of the graft copolymers. Yet the unique topology of the IPNs imparts properties not easily obtainable without the presence of crosslinking. One of the objectives of this book is to point out the wealth of work done on IPNs or closely related materials. Since many papers and patents actually concerned with IPNs are not so designated, this literature is significantly larger than first imagined. It may also be that many authors will meet each other for the first time on these pages and realize that they are working on a common topology. The number of applications suggested in the patent literature is large and growing. Included are impact-resistant plastics, ion exchange resins, noise-damping materials, a type of thermoplastic elastomer, and many more.

For several decades, polymer science has sought to rationalize the mechanical and thermodynamic properties of polymer networks largely within the framework of statistical thermodynamics. Much of this effort has been directed toward the rubbery rather than the glassy state. It is generally assumed that networks possess an av erage composition to which average properties may be assigned; from such a continuum view, a powerful analysis of such properties as modulus, swelling, birefringence and thermoelasticity has emerged. In the years following the rise of polymer characterization (the late 40's and early 50's), many scientists began to study ap parent relations between the properties of linear polymer molecules and the networks obtainable therefrom. This search was also stimu lated by the wide range of applications of polymer networks in com mercial elastomers, thermosets and coatings. Frequently, these data were confidently matched with curves obtained from statisti cally describable models of networks of ghost chains, uniformly distributed in space. More recently, it has become apparent that polymer chains in networks are not as ideal as assumed in the formulation of statis tical models, and there has been a shift in emphasis towards the less than ideal, perturbed and possibly inhomogeneous networks which are more frequently encountered in practice. The continuum approach, however, had to be developed before inhomogeneous systems could be described; the present volume, therefore, contains both views.

Provides a comprehensive review of interpenetrating polymer networks. Opens with four review chapters by important workers in the field--Sperling, Klempner, Utracki, and Lipatov- and continues with an international penetration of current research. Covers synthesis and structure, miscibility and morphology, structure-property relationships, transport and permeability, and functionalized triglyceride oils.

Amphiphilic polymer co-networks (APCNs) are a type of polymeric hydrogel, their hydrophobic polymer segments and hydrophilic components produce less aqueous swelling, giving better mechanical properties than conventional hydrogels. This new class of polymers is attracting increasing attention, resulting in further basic research on the system, as well as new applications. This book focuses on new developments in the field of APCNs, and is organised in four sections: synthesis, properties, applications and modelling. Co-network architectures included in the book chapters are mainly those deriving from hydrophobic macro-cross-linkers, representing the classical approach; however, more modern designs are also presented. Properties of interest discussed include aqueous swelling, thermophysical and mechanical properties, self-assembly, electrical actuation, and protein adsorption. Applications described in the book chapters include the use of co-networks as soft contact lenses, scaffolds for drug delivery and tissue engineering, matrices for heterogeneous biocatalysis, and membranes of controllable permeability. Finally, an important theory chapter on the modelling of the self-assembly of APCNs is also included. The book is suitable for graduate students and researchers interested in hydrogels, polymer networks, polymer chemistry, block copolymers, self-assembly and nanomaterials, as well as their applications in contact lenses, drug delivery, tissue engineering, membranes and biocatalysis.

Polyurethane Polymers: Blends and Interpenetrating Networks deals with almost all aspects of blends and IPNs formed by polyurethane, including the thermal, mechanical, morphological, and viscoelastic properties of each blend presented in the book. In addition, major applications related to these blends and IPNs are mentioned. - Provides an elaborate coverage of the chemistry of polyurethane, including its synthesis and properties - Includes available characterization techniques - Relates types of polyurethanes to their potential properties - Discusses blends options

Liquid crystal displays were discovered in the 1960s, and today we continue to enjoy the benefits of that fundamental discovery and its translation into a wide variety of products. Like liquid crystals, polymers are unusual materials, and have similarly enjoyed a great deal of research attention because of their vast applications and uses and compl