Polymer sciences

Winnik. M. A. (ed.), 1986, Photophysical and Photochemical Tools in Polymer Science Cor ormatton, Dynamics, Morphology, D. Reidel, Boston, 647 pp. 

By the 1960s, organic chemistry and chemical physics were in Furukawa s words, complementary partners in perfecting the science of polymers . The relationship between polymer chemistry and biomolecular chemistry, was more limited  

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. 

Just how long-chain molecules can in fact be incorporated in regular crystal lattices, when the molecules are bound to extend through many unit cells, took a long time to explain. Finally, in 1957, three experimental teams found the answer this episode is presented in Chapter 8. 

The story of Staudinger s researches and struggles against opposition, and also of the contributions of Carothers who is introduced in the next paragraph, is brilliantly told in a very recent historical study (Furukawa 1998). 

There are two great families of synthetic polymers, those made by addition methods (notably, polyethylene and other polyolefines), in which successive monomers simply become attached to a long chain, and those made by condensation reactions (polyesters, polyamides, etc.) in which a monomer becomes attached to the end of a chain with the generation of a small by-product molecule, such as water. The first sustained programme of research directed specifically to finding new synthetic macromolecules involved mostly condensation reactions and was master- 

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K. Tanaka and Y. Uchiyrma, in Advances in Polymer Friction and Wear, Lieng-Huang Lee, ed.. Polymer Science and Technology, Vol. 5B, Plenum, New York, 1974. 

Ribbe A E 1997 Laser scanning confocal microscopy in polymer science Trends Polym. Sc/. 5 333-7 Oliveira M J and Hemsiey D A 1996 Optical microscopy of polymers Sonderb. Prakt. Metallogr. 27 13-22 Nie Sh and Zare R N 1997 Optical detection of single molecules Ann. Rev. Biophys. Biomol. Struct. 26 567-96 Masters B R 1994 Confocal redox imaging of cells Adv. Mol. Cell Biol. 8 1-19... 

Coarse-grained models have a longstanding history in polymer science. Long-chain molecules share many common mesoscopic characteristics which are independent of the atomistic stmcture of the chemical repeat units [4, 5 and 6]. The self-similar stmcture [7, 8, 9 and 10] on large length scales is only characterized by a single length scale, the chain extension R. 

Sokal A D 1995 Monte Carlo and Molecular Dynamics Simulations in Polymer Science ed K Binder (New York Oxford University Press) oh 3... 

Jenkins A D, Kratochvi I P, Stepto R F T and Suter U W 1996 Glossary of basic terms In polymer science Pure. Appl. Chem. 68 2287- 311... 

Sperling L FI 1992 Introduction to Physical Polymer Science (New York Wiley) p 175... 

Dunn A S 1989 Polymerization in micelles and microemulsions Comprehensive Polymer Science—the Synthesis, Characterization, Reactions and Applications of Polymers vo 4, ed G C Eastmond, A Ledwith, S Russo and P Sigwalt (New York Pergamon) pp 219-24... 

Thomas P. Russell, Department of Polymer Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts... 

Applications of Ab-Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations in Chemistry and Polymer Science... 

Helfand E 1984. Dynamics of Conformational Transitions in Polymers. Science 226 647-650. 

Billmeyer, F. W., Jr., Textbook of Polymer Science, 2nd ed., Wiley-lnter-science, New York, 1971. 

We conclude this chapter and wrap up the last three chapters with a few remarks about the application of the ideas contained herein to polymer technology. Chapters 2-4 have been concerned with various aspects of the mechanical states of polymers. The opinion was expressed in Chap. 1 that if polymers did not possess the mechanical properties they have, this whole class of compounds might be relegated to the category of laboratory curiosities. On the basis of any number of criteria-the number of scientists employed, the number of industries involved, the number of publications released, the number of patents issued—polymer science proves to be very viable indeed. 

The words basic concepts" in the title define what I mean by fundamental." This is the primary emphasis in this presentation. Practical applications of polymers are cited frequently—after all, it is these applications that make polymers such an important class of chemicals—but in overall content, the stress is on fundamental principles. Foundational" might be another way to describe this. I have not attempted to cover all aspects of polymer science, but the topics that have been discussed lay the foundstion—built on the bedrock of organic and physical chemistry—from which virtually all aspects of the subject are developed. There is an enormous literature in polymer science this book is intended to bridge the gap between the typical undergraduate background in polymers—which frequently amounts to little more than occasional relevant" examples in other courses—and the professional literature on the subject. 

J. CriveUo, in J. P. Eouiassier andj. E. Rabek, eds., Eadiation Curing in Polymer Science andTechnology (V9III) Photoinitiating Systems, Elsevier, New York, 1993, Chapt. 8, for a review on onium salts. 

Formaldehyde polymers have been known for some time (1) and early investigations of formaldehyde polymerization contributed significantly to the development of several basic concepts of polymer science (2). Polymers of higher aUphatic homologues of formaldehyde are also well known (3) and frequently referred to as aldehyde polymers (4). Some have curious properties, but none are commercially important. 

W. M. Kuheke, M. Koetter, and H. Graeger, Mdvances in Polymer Science 89, Springer-Vedag Berlin, Heidelberg, 1989, p. 32. 

C. H. Bamford and G. E. Eastmond, "Acrylonitrile Polymers" iu N. M. Bikales, ed., Engclopedia of Polymer Science andTechnology, Vol. 1, Interscience Publishers, a Division of John Wiley Sons, Inc., New York, 1964, pp. 374—425. 

Lnyclopedia of Polymer Science and Engineerings] ohn Wiley Sons, Inc., New York. 

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