Polymer Networks: Principles of their Formation, Structure and Properties / Edition 1

by R.F. Stepto

Overview

Polymer network materials are widespread in their occurrence and find many applications in the exploitation of polymer systems. The characteristic separating a network material from a conventional polymer is a molecular structure which permeates the whole sample. This structure may be the result of covalent linking of molecules, or a physical association of simple molecules, but whichever is present the properties are strongly influenced by the formation of a network. As the network formed is itself influenced strongly by the method and conditions of preparation it follows that in comparison with simple linear polymers, the properties of the final network polymer are much more influenced by preparative variables.
Written by an international team of authors, with a strong emphasis on the underlying chemistry, this book forms a timely, concise and accessible evaluation of the fundamentals of network formation, structure and properties, and how these three aspects are interrelated.
Chemists, technologists, materials scientists and engineers working in all areas of the polymer industry along with academic researchers in polymer science and technology will find this book an essential source of information in the course of their work.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780751402643
Publisher:	Springer Netherlands
Publication date:	12/31/1997
Series:	Advances in Polymer Science Series
Edition description:	1998
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.03(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction. Non-linear polymerization, gelation and network formation, structure and properties. Network formation involving polyfunctional polymer chains. Transitions during network formation. Reactive processing of polymer networks: Structure-property relationships in copolymer networks formed by reaction injection moulding. Interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) materials. Molecular aspects of rubberlike elasticity. Viscoelastic behaviour of network materials. Formation, structure and properties of physical networks. Appendix. Index.