Polymer Science, Early technology

Polymer science and technology is not only a fundamental science but also important from the industrial and commercial point of view. The author has interwoven discussion of these subjects with the basics in polymer science and technology. Testimony to the high acceptance of this book is that early demand required reprinting and updating of each of the previous editions. We see the result in this new significantly changed and improved edition. 

In the early part of the 50 years commemorated by this book, there was very little block polymer science or technology to record. Probably the first block polymer reported was in 1938 by Bolland and Melville (23). who found that a film of poly(methyl methacrylate) deposited on the walls of an evacuated tube could initiate the polymerization of chloroprene. Later Melville concluded (24) that... 

The generic research portfolio presently includes over sixty projects, representing an investment of 5 million, and it is increasing by 1 million per year. Thus, it represents a significant bank of polymer science and technology which members can draw upon. Eventually most of the research is published, but member companies get an early look at the research results, and EPIC and the universities have an agreement that patent rights will be protected before publication is permitted. 

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. 

Early industrial developments in the field of polymer science and technology were concerned with the modification and utilization of natural polymers. The commercial production of purely synthetic polymers was started in the early 1900s, when some commercially important polymers were prepared. It was the late 1930s and the beginning of the Second World War that saw the development of all but a handful of the wide variety of synthetic polymers now in commercial use. 

Early studies of the polymerization of vinyl acetate and the structure and properties of the polymer were made during the first quarter of the century.The first patents on polymerization were also issued during that period. The real commercial development on the continent began in 1925. Commercial polymerization was underway by 1929. " Since then, a wealth of technical literature has been published dealing with polyvinyl acetate. A particularly comprehensive article and bibliography on vinyl acetate polymerization and polymer properties is found in the Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Technology. ... 

Any discussion of the wide variety of advanced photoresist systems in use today would be incomplete without first discussing the early workhorse materials for the semiconductor industry. Recall that Figure 2 shows the progression of resist technologies that have heen associated with production of various feature sizes over the history of the semiconductor industry. A discussion of these early materials nicely motivates hoth many of the advances in resist polymer science and technology that have occurred over the last several decades and some of the problems yet to he addressed. 

Conducting polymer composite materials (CPCM) — artificial media based on polymers and conductive fillers, have been known since the early 1940s and widely used in various branches of science and technology. Their properties are described in a considerable number of monographs and articles [1-12]. However, the publications available do not clearly distinguish such materials from other composites and do not provide for specific features of their formation. 

Some important everyday items that are made from polymers with widely different properties Include billiard balls, plastic dishes, soda bottles, barrier and decorative films, egg cartons, polymeric drinking glasses, foam seats, and automotive tires. These applications for synthetic polymers have developed over about 150 years. As shown in Table 2.1, modern polymer material science and technology can be traced back to as early as 1770 [1]. Some Important advances In the understanding of polymer production were developed before World War II. 

Armand (1994) has briefly summarised the history of polymer electrolytes. A more extensive account can be found in Gray (1991). Wakihara and Yamamoto (1998) describe the development of lithium ion batteries. Sahimi (1994) discusses applications of percolation theory. Early work on conductive composites has been covered by Norman (1970). Subsequent edited volumes by Sichel (1982) and Bhattacharya (1986) deal with carbon- and metal-filled materials respectively. Donnet et al. (1993) cover the science and technology of carbon blacks including their use in composites. GuF (1996) presents a detailed account of conductive polymer composites up to the mid-1990s. Borsenberger and Weiss (1998) discuss semiconductive polymers with non-conjugated backbones in the context of xerography. Bassler (1983) reviews transport in these materials. 

X HE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY of polymers have had a profound influence on the quality of life in the 20th century. Indeed, the utility of polymeric materials was widely appreciated long before scientists understood the molecular basis of this class of materials. Early telephone handsets, for example, were made from a condensation polymer of formaldehyde and phenol, but it was many years later before the macromolecular concept of a polymer molecule was proposed, much less accepted. 

The early development of polyphosphazene science and technology focused on the preparation of polymers that are unreactive. However, the expansion of this field is being driven by the need for functional polymers that bear -OH, -COOH, SO3H, -NH2. and numerous other reactive units in the side group structure. This article reviews the methods that are being developed to accomplish this at both the molecular level and at surfaces. 

Abstract A consideration is described on the "Properties" of materials as the basis of science and technology, in connection with my early research on textile. The "Functionality" is then discussed in some details and the stream from property to "Sensibility" is viewed through "Functionality" in my own style. Biocompatibility has been regarded as one of the functionalities of polymers and studied in our laboratory a decade ago, as one of the prestages of the sensibility or humanity concepts. Finally, the arts in science are briefly imagined in two ways one, comprehensive approach downward (anti-clockwise, in the top part of Figure 2) from the arts to science, and the other, individual one upward (in the bottom part of Figure 2) from science to the arts. 

Bob was recognized as a fifty year member of the American Chemical Society. He received the Charles Goodyear medal in 1969 and his talk on "Early History of Butyl Rubber" was published in Rubber Chemistry and Technology. 42 (4) G90 (1969). He was named a Pioneer in Polymer Science by Polymer News just prior to his death in 1986. 

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