Contemporary Polymer Chemistry

This third edition ofContemporary Polymer Chemistry,like the two preceding editions, is designed as an introduction to polymers for students of chemistry, physics, chemical engineering, materials science, and biomaterials. It assumes a basic knowledge of subjects taught in university undergraduate programs in the above disciplines. Specifically, the book aims to broaden the perspective of specialists in different technical areas to the point where they can appreciate the scope, importance, and future potential of polymer chemistry and technology. Thus, in writing this book we have kept in mind the individual who has a sound knowledge of basic science but needs to know more about polymers for future academic research or teaching or for entry into the polymer industry. For this reason, many topics that are well-known to practicing polymer scientists are handled here from first principles. More rigorous and more comprehensive treatments exist for nearly all of the topics discussed in this book. However, few attempts have been made to bring together synthetic, structural, kinetic, thermodynamic, and use-oriented material in one volume. Our aim has been to provide a broad, coherent introduction to modern polymer chemistry and to direct the reader to more detailed sources for advanced study. This edition has undergone an appreciable expansion compared to the earlier volumes. This reflects the widening scope of the field and the need to include recent advances in polymer synthesis as well as to broaden the treatment of polymer characterization methods and the physics and materials science aspects of the subject. Contributions by new co-author James E. Mark have added considerably to this widened perspective. A number of new topics have also been introduced, including insights into rubberlike elasticity, viscoelasticity, biomimicry, and the materials science of structure-property relationships. The list of references for further reading and the study questions, problems, and solutions have been updated extensively throughout the book. The book is divided into five parts.Part I(Chapters 1-9) provides an introduction to the different classes of polymers and the ways in which they are synthesized and modified. Individual chapters deal with condensation, free-radical, and ionic or coordination polymerization, with photolytic, high energy radiation, and electrolytic polymerization, polymerization of cyclic compounds, biological macromolecules, with the ways that synthetic polymers can be modified chemically, and with polymers that contain inorganic elements. Several of the chapters in this section have been revised to reflect recent developments. For example, new sections have been included on molecular weight distributions, dendrimers and telechelic polymers, polymer surface chemistry, organometallicinitiated polymerizations, atom transfer radical reactions, polymerizations in supercritical carbon dioxide, and inorganic polymers. Thus, the emphasis in these chapters is on descriptive chemistry, general principles, and synthetic issues. The material is this section should be understandable to students who have taken undergraduate courses in general chemistry, and organic, inorganic, or biological chemistry. These chapters form the groundwork for the sections that follow. Part II(Chapters 10-13) deals with thermodynamics, equilibria, and polymerization kinetics. Chapter 10 provides an elementary overview of the underlying principles that determine whether a monomer or a cyclic compound will polymerize or if a polymer will depolymerize. Chapters 11,12, and 13 deal respectively with the kinetics of condensation, free-radical, and ionic polymerizations. A unique feature of these chapters is the full derivation of the kinetic expressions, with every attempt made to explain the underlying principles for each step. This should enable the treatments to be understood by anyone with a basic backgroundAllcock, Harry is the author of 'Contemporary Polymer Chemistry', published 2003 under ISBN 9780130650566 and ISBN 0130650560.