Developments In Polymer Analysis And Characterisation

This volume includes reviews on tackling polymer characterisation problems and on developing specific characterisation techniques. The first two chapters and the last chapter describe progress in providing character isation information for polymers containing long-chain branching, for polymer blends, and for polymers having preferred orientation. The remaining chapters review progress in individual techniques, showing with examples the characterisation results which may be obtained. It is recognised that the degree of chain branching which can evolve in some polymerisation processes can have a marked effect on the flow properties of a polymer, and therefore on polymer processing behaviour. In the first chapter the characterisation of long-chain branching from measurements of the molecular size and molar mass of a polymer in dilute solution is outlined. It is indicated that a complete characterisation of branching requires the combined use of several techniques, emphasising in particular recent developments involving gel permeation chromatography. Thermal analysis and infrared spectroscopy are widely used techniques in polymer characterisation. Both techniques can provide, very quickly, significant results with readily available instrumentation. This is illustrated by the review of the characterisation of polymer blends by thermal analysis in Chapter 2. An assessment of blend morphology, which influences the behaviour of a material consisting of two or more polymers, is presented in terms of transition temperatures. Conventional infrared spectroscopy involves dispersive spectrometers which do not always provide accurate information on composition and structure for complex polymeric materials.

Thermal Analysis (TA) has become an indispensable family of analytical techniques in the polymer research. The increased importance of these techniques can be seen as the result of three more or less parallel developments:• a tempestuous development of TA measuring techniques in combination with a high degree of automation,• the strongly increased understanding of the underlaying theory and,• the increasing knowledge of the relation between the polymers' chemical structure and their physical properties. These areas are still in their developmental stages, especially the third area. The increasing knowledge of the dependence of physical properties on chemical structure just accentuated more and more the need for accurate thermoanalytical measurements, and this knowledge is very important for the first stages of the development of new polymeric systems. Besides, the contribution of TA remains necessary for the technical and commercial development of such a new polymer system. The use of the various TA techniques in these processes is described in this book in nine chapters, while chapter ten illustrates the information obtained about different polymers during special case studies. This book illustrates in this way, applications of a wide variety of TA techniques whilst it is written from a materials characterisation rather than from a TA point of view with attention being paid to the chemical structure/physical properties correlations.

Discerning the properties of polymers and polymer-based materials requires a good understanding of characterization. This revised and updated text provides a comprehensive survey of characterization methods within its simple, concise chapters. Polymer Characterization: Physical Techniques, provides an overview of a wide variety of characterization methods, which makes it an excellent textbook and reference. It starts with a description of basic polymer science, providing a solid foundation from which to understand the key physical characterization techniques. The authors explain physical principles without heavy theory and give special emphasis to the application of the techniques to polymers, with plenty of illustrations. Topics covered include molecular weight determination, molecular and structural characterization by spectroscopic techniques, morphology and structural characterization by microscopy and diffraction, and thermal analysis. This edition contains a new chapter on surface analysis as well as some revised problems and solutions. The concise treatment of each topic offers even those with little prior knowledge of the subject an accessible source to relevant, simple descriptions in a well-organized format.

Based on Wiley's renowned Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Technology, this book provides coverage of key methods of characterization of the physical and chemical properties of polymers, including atomic force microscopy, chromatographic methods, laser light scattering, nuclear magnetic resonance, and thermal analysis, among others. Written by prominent scholars from around the world, this reference presents over twenty-five self -contained articles on the most used analytical techniques currently practiced in polymer science.

The two companion volumes of "Advances in Polymer Science" - Volumes 150 and 151 - deal with recent progress in the characterization of polymers, mostly in solution but also at surfaces. The contributions comprise multidimensional chromatography for elucidation, the composition and the chain length distribution of copolymers, capillary electrophoresis of synthetic water-soluble polymers including polyelectrolytes, field flow fractionation techniques for quick and reliable separation and characterization of broad polymer samples and a novel application of thermal grating experiments for probing Brownian and thermal diffusion. Finally the rapid development of atomic forces techniques is reviewed with particular emphasis on the visualization of macromolecules and the patterning of surfaces.