Future of polymer science

Despite the condensed format of this overview, I hope that it manages to convince readers that the interest in monomers from renewable resources is not a passing whim of some polymer chemists led astray by fashionable trends, but, instead, a very sound strategy that should help to shape the future of polymer science and technology. Although obviously not all these studies will reach viable practical realizations in terms of novel macromolecular materials, it is indispensable to build a rich database in preparation for the progressive dwindling of fossil... 

This volume will facilitate further progress in polymers as it will disseminate valuable information on a wide variety of topics. The information that this volume provides gives support to the optimistic view of the future of polymer science and technology. 

The 21st century is considered by many to become the age of polymer science. I am firmly convinced that the future of polymer science is bright. The polymer industry should consistently meet with human needs and respond to challenge of human needs in order to continue to grow. The driving force of growth is basic research based on a truly long term perspective of human needs. 

Polymer thermodynamics is a supporting science that has proved to be very successful owing to its intensive interactions with neighbouring disciplines. The future of polymer thermodynamics will thus strongly depend on developments made in these neighbouring research areas [59]. 

The book is designed for the reader with some knowledge of polymer science so that familiarity with certain basic concepts is assumed. As the subject is developing so fast, the present monograph can only represent a snapshot of the current state of the art. Nevertheless, it is hoped that it provides a useful reference source and hopefully a discussion of future developments will be incorporated in a subsequent edition. 

Despite his own achievements, Furukawa s chapter indicates the need for future research. How did chemists and physicists work together in the 1940s and 1950s to create a new unified discipline of polymer science It would also be useful to look at how the discipline was taught in the period between 1940 and 1965, especially in the United States. To do this, one would need to examine which courses were taught, the launch of new journals and the evolution of textbooks across various editions. As the polymer science in America started in a few key institutions, notably Brooklyn Polytechnic, it would also be valuable to look at the diffusion of the new discipline from these seed institutions, tracing the careers of the early alumni and coworkers such as Charles Overberger. 

Further applications of flash polymerization in microflow systems will hopefully appear in the field of polymer science and technology in the future. 

A new area of polymer science termed nano-macromolecular chemistry [Eirich, 1993] also has relevance to future polymer blend technology and application. Langmuir-Blodget techniques allow for the formation of films of one molecule thickness. Utilizing polymerizable molecules for these films, a polymer molecule or network can yield a film with the thickness of several nanometers. Alternating layers comprised of different polymers could be prepared to yield specific optical or electrical properties. Polymerization of calix-arenes to yield molecular sieving membranes for gas separation has been discussed by Conner et al. [1993]. 

In presenting this text our objective is to provide examples of the multifaceted areas of polymer science and technology. To a very large degree we believe we have succeeded in this endeavor. It is both our hope and expectation that the works presented here will stimulate and direct future research and development in the ever expanding world of polymers. 

The Present and Future Global Challenges of Polymer Science... 

Polymers exhibit a range of architectures and unique properties, the study of which represents a major core area of polymer science. Although this book assumes that the reader is familiar with some of the basic concepts of polymer science, such as the structures of common macromolecular materials (polystyrene, polyisoprene, etc.), additional knowledge is certainly desirable for an appreciation of much of the research described and the challenges for the future. In this section, we briefly cover some key points for the benefit of readers unfamiliar with the areas that are relevant to the discussions in subsequent chapters. For detailed background material the reader is referred to the many excellent introductory and advanced books on polymer sdence and the recent literature dted in this section ]7, 37-42]. 

We are optimistic for the future of this field because so many interested works are present even though only a small fraction of polymer science is represented. We are confident that as more polymeric systems are explored with the tools of nonlinear djoiamics, more exciting and usual phenomena will be discovered. 

This book, therefore, provides a wide-angle snapshot of the polymer research in the early 1990s. In particular, the papers presented in the "Polymer Science and the Arts" session undoubtedly give perspective to the future aspects of polymer science and technology in the 21st century. It is a useful book for all scientists interested in polymers and the progress of the science in the countries of the Pacific Basin. The editor hopes that many attendees were stimulated by the meeting and that new ideas and new collaborations will result in a further enrichment of research, and lead to new useful polymers for all countries. 

The organization and outline of the ten volumes of this edition of Polymer Science A Comprehensive Reference has been chosen to give consideration to these developments, but also to link the fundamentals of polymer science, as developed over almost 100 years, with the challenges of the ever more complex systems, and introduce connections that will dominate the future development of a polymer-based molecular soft matter science. Besides the classic print edition, this new edition of Polymer Science A Comprehensive Reference is also provided as an e-version, enabled with efficient cross-referencing and multimedia. We invited the top world experts in polymer science to serve as volume editors and this dream team has prepared a ten-volume set with 269 chapters covering both the fundamentals and the most recent advances in polymer science. Volumes 1-5 are directed toward the fundamentals of polymer science, that is, polymer physics and physical chemistry, advanced characterization methods, and polymer synthesis. In spite of the breadth of information collected in these five volumes, it has not been possible to cover all aspects of polymer science. In some cases, the reader must refer to the chapters in volumes 6-10 that address topical developments with a stronger material focus. 

Polymer thermodynamics is a supporting science that proved to be very successful due to it s intensive interactions with neighbouring disciplines (such as process optimization, polymer chemistry and chemical modification, polymer characterization, morphology and interface sciences, but also with areas as polymer processing and material science). The future of polymer thermodynamics thus will strongly depend on developments made in these neighbouring research area s. I thus will present a kind of outlook for polymer thermodynamics and the possibilities of compressed or supercritical media, based on some pioneering research results in polymer chemistry and the reported molecular architectures obtained. 

Scientists and researchers in the field of polymer science in general and thermoset resins in particular will find Handbook of Thermoset Resins very useful in developing a knowledge base in the subject as well as planning their future research works. 

For the benefit of polymer chemists, in nearly every part there is one review paper to cover the state of the art. Most papers present recent research results in science or technology pertaining to the subject matter. At the end of this book, a general discussion was devoted to the future of polymer tribology research. Thus, in this book, we attempt to cover the past, the present, and the future of this Important branch of interdisciplinary sci ence. 

---