Phase Transitions in Polymers: The Role of Metastable States

by Stephen Z.D. Cheng

Overview

A classical metastable state possesses a local free energy minimum at infinite sizes, but not a global one. This concept is phase size independent. We have studied a number of experimental results and proposed a new concept that there exists a wide range of metastable states in polymers on different length scales where their metastability is critically determined by the phase size and dimensionality. Metastable states are also observed in phase transformations that are kinetically impeded on the pathway to thermodynamic equilibrium. This was illustrated in structural and morphological investigations of crystallization and mesophase transitions, liquid-liquid phase separation, vitrification and gel formation, as well as combinations of these transformation processes. The phase behaviours in polymers are thus dominated by interlinks of metastable states on different length scales. This concept successfully explains many experimental observations and provides a new way to connect different aspects of polymer physics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780444519115
Publisher:	Elsevier Science
Publication date:	09/10/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	324
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Trained in biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Dr. Litwack worked on enzymology and the effects of hormones on enzyme systems. Then he was a Postdoctoral Fellow of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis at the Biochemical Institute of the Sorbonne in Paris. Dr. Litwack's first position was as Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at Rutgers University in 1954. Six years later, he joined the University of Pennsylvania as associate professor and four years later went to the Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology, as full professor, eventually becoming Deputy Director of the Institute. In 1991, he accepted the Chair of Pharmacology at Thomas Jefferson University where he is also Deputy Director of the Jefferson Cancer Institute and Associate Director for Basic Science in the Jefferson Cancer Center. Dr. Litwack's work has been in the area of mechanisms of steroid receptor action involving especially the glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors, immunophi.

Table of Contents

Foreword. Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Thermodynamics and kinetics of phase transitions. 3. Concepts of metastable states. 4. Metastable states in phase transitions of polymers. 5. Metastable states observed due to phase transformation kinetics in polymers. 6. Interdependence of metastable states on different length scales in polymers. 7. Outlook - A Personal View. Index.