Polymer International Polym Int 48 :69 (1999)

Book reviews

foams, science and technologyPolymeric

ACS symposium series, no. 669

Edited by KC Khemani

American Chemical Society, Was hington DC, 1997

pp. viii] 239, price US$99.95.ISBN 0-8412-3516-3

In a recent undergraduate examination, several of theanswers contained references to polymeric foams asan ‘expanding area of polymer technology’. Notexactly belly-laugh material, but the diversity ofpolymeric foam systems described within the üfteenchapters of this volume does give some credence tothese feeble attempts at humour by my students.

Five of the chapters present developments in reac-tive cellular systems based on polysiloxanes, poly-imides, polyisocyanurates and polyurethanes, notablya collaboration between Dow Benelux and UMIST(UK), which combines data from FTIR, synchrotronSAXS and dynamic rheometry experiments topresent an overall view of structure developmentduring the formation of a polyurethane foam.Thermoplastic foams are also heavily represented,with üve chapters covering the formation of micro-cellular foams via solid-state and extrusion tech-niques, blowing of extruded polymers with physicalblowing agents, and the extrusion of polyester foams.Less mainstream topics are also covered, such as theproduction of cellular carbon via pyrolysis of highlycrosslinked foams formed from polyaromatic poly-mers, and the physical modelling of intumescentpolymers. Two chapters address the complexities ofmorphological characterisation of cellular structures,a particular problem for researchers attempting todevelop structure–property relationships for foamedpolymers : a study of the applicability of confocalmicroscopy in reconstructing the three-dimensionalstructure of a polyurethane foam from two-dimensional depth imaging, and a detailed review ofthe use of image analysis in the characterisation ofcell morphology, by Marion Rhodes of the Uni-versity of Massachusetts.

A volume developed from a research symposiumon a topic as diverse as polymer foams cannot hopeto satisfy a wide readership, but attempts have beenmade to make it more accessible. The ürst chapterprovides an introductory overview – a brief outlineof the main materials and their markets – useful tosome readers in conveying the broad scope of foamedpolymers. Most subsequent chapters also containfairly detailed reviews of their respective topic beforediscussing new developments. Individual chaptersmay therefore be useful to readers interested in a

particular polymer, but, overall, the volume will bemore useful to researchers working in the areas ofmelt- or reactively-processed foams.

A Wilkinson

symposia 128: New approaches inMacromolecular

polymer synthesis, edited by AYu Bilibin and SS

Skorokhodov

Price DM124, US $80.00

ISBN 3-85739-325-4

This volume contains the texts of 21 plenary andcontributed lectures to the IUPAC Symposium NewApproaches in Polymer Synthesis and MacromolecularFormation, held in St Petersburg, June 1997. Theycover new approaches in polymerization, catalysis,molecular architectural control and non-traditionalmethods.

It is a series of independent articles ratherthan a comprehensive reference text, forming auseful, although specialised, reference to the üeld.The articles cover a wide range of synthesisapproaches to new macromolecules and macro-molecular architectures, including synthesis fromspeciality monomers as well as by polymer modiü-cation. The scientiüc standard is high throughout.Contributions range through topics of strong currentindustrial relevance (such as the opening chapter onsolid state interchain transesteriücation reactions,new synthesis techniques (the use of the synthonapproach for liquid crystal copolymers ; the synthesisof rotaxanes) and novel properties (‘intelligent’networks). Industrial relevance is considered: thewhole ýavour of the book is one of applied sciencerather than esoteric study. All authors explain theirsubject clearly and in an easily digestible manner fora reader at ürst year degree level, and all articles arewell referenced and illustrated.

My only criticism (a minor one) concerns not thecontent but the presentation of the book. It is attrac-tively hard bound, but the articles have clearly beensupplied in camera ready form (presumably to speedpublication) with inconsistency of appearance inpresentation styles. The odd spelling mistake hasalso crept in.

This is a useful reference work for researchers inthe area of new materials. It is a worthy record of amost interesting meeting : working my way throughthe text I was sorry not to have attended personally.

CWG Ansell

( 1999 Society of Chemical Industry. Polym Int 0959–8103/99/$17.50 69