Polymer Characterisation

Polymers continue to play an ever increasing role in the modern world. In fact it is quite inconceivable to most people that we could ever have existed of the increased volume and variety of materials without them. As a result currently available, and the diversity of their application, characterisation has become an essential requirement of industrial and academic laboratories in- volved with polymeric materials. On the one hand requirements may come from polymer specialists involved in the design and synthesis of new materials who require a detailed understanding of the relationship between the precise molecular architecture and the properties of the polymer in order to improve its capabilities and range of applications. On the other hand, many analysts who are not polymer specialists are faced with the problems of analysing and testing a wide range of polymeric materials for quality control or material specification purposes. We hope this book will be a useful reference for all scientists and techno- or industrial laboratories, logists involved with polymers, whether in academic and irrespective of their scientific discipline. We have attempted to include in one volume all of the most important techniques. Obviously it is not possible to do this in any great depth but we have encouraged the use of specific examples to illustrate the range of possibilities. In addition numerous references are given to more detailed texts on specific subjects, to direct the reader where appropriate. The book is divided into II chapters.

Table of Contents:
1 Introduction.- 1.1 Introduction.- 1.2 Levels of characterisation.- 1.3 Organisation of the book.- References.- 2 The separation and analysis of additives in polymers.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 Polypropylene.- 2.3 Poly(vinyl chloride).- 2.4 Polytetrafluoroethylene.- 2.5 Polyamides.- References.- 3 NMR characterisation of polymers.- 3.1 Fundamental concepts.- 3.2 NMR characterisation of polymers in solution.- 3.3 Solid-state NMR studies of polymers.- 3.4 Two-dimensional NMR.- References.- 4 Vibrational spectroscopy.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 General considerations.- 4.3 Instrumentation, sampling and data treatment.- 4.4 Copolymer composition and sequencing.- 4.5 Polymerisation kinetics and cure studies.- 4.6 Polymer branching and end-group measurements.- 4.7 Degradation.- 4.8 Blends.- 4.9 Morphology.- 4.10 Longitudinal acoustical (accordion) modes (LAMs).- 4.11 Molecular orientation.- 4.12 Rheo-optical studies.- 4.13 Optical properties and constants.- 4.14 Conclusion.- References.- 5 Molecular weight determination.- 5.1 Introduction.- 5.2 Average molecular weights.- 5.3 Colligative methods.- 5.4 End-group analysis.- 5.5 Light-scattering methods.- 5.6 Viscometric methods.- References.- 6 Chromatographic methods.- 6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) or gel-permeation chromatography (GPC).- 6.3 High-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC).- 6.4 Thin-layer chromatography (TLC).- 6.5 Gas chromatography (GC).- 6.6 Supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC).- 6.7 Field flow fractionation (FFF).- 6.8 Hydrodynamic chromatography (HDC).- References.- 7 Thermal analysis.- 7.1 Introduction.- 7.2 Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).- 7.3 Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA).- 7.4 Dielectric thermal analysis (DETA).- 7.5 Thermally stimulated currents (TSC).-7.6 Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).- 7.7 Simultaneous thermal analysis (STA).- 7.8 Hyphenated techniques.- 7.9 Overview of thermal analysis methods including thermomechanical analysis (TMA).- References.- 8 Small-angle neutron scattering and neutron reflectometry.- 8.1 Introduction.- 8.2 Small-angle neutron scattering.- 8.3 Neutron reflectometry.- 8.4 Conclusion.- References.- 9 Mechanical and rheological testing.- 9.1 Introduction.- 9.2 Standards.- 9.3 Conditioning.- 9.4 Standard test conditions.- 9.5 Types of testing.- 9.6 Rheological testing.- 9.7 Mechanical properties.- 9.8 Flexural tests.- 9.9 Impact testing.- References.- 10 Polymer microscopy.- 10.1 Introduction.- 10.2 Optical microscopy.- 10.3 Scanning electron microscopy (SEM).- 10.4 Transmission electron microscopy (TEM).- 10.5 Conclusions.- References.- 11 The characterisation of polymer surfaces by XPS and SIMS.- 11.1 Introduction.- 11.2 X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).- 11.3 Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS).- References.

Review :
Most useful for guiding research workers with a characterisation problem to relevant developments which had not yet come to their notice ... Any library with a polymer and plastics section should acquire this book. - Polymer International; This new book provides a thoroughly up-to-date review of current and emerging techniques and technology. It covers all widely-used techniques and adopts a method-by-method approach. - Documentation; The editors have succeeded in providing a good balanced coverage of most of the methods accessible to the majority of laboratories together with an introduction to less accessible but important modern analytical tools...for those involved in polymer characterisation it is a worthwhile investment. - Reactive Polymers; This is a well written book and makes a very able attempt at covering the methods used in the characterisation of polymers...useful to anyone involved with polymers, particularly those involved in analysis and characterisation - Talanta