Molecular Basis of Polymer Networks: Proceedings of the 5th IFF-ILL Workshop, Jülich, Fed. Rep. of Germany, October 5–7, 1988 (Springer Proceedings in Physics) - Tapa dura

The workshop on the "Molecular Basis of Polymer Networks", held October 5- 7, 1988 in 1iilich, FRG, continued a series of workshops jointly organized by the Institute Laue Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble, and the Institute of Solid State Physics of the KFA, 1iilich. The aim of this workshop was to provide a platform for discussions between theoreticians and experimentalists interested in the physics of polymer networks, in the hope that the two types of discussion would be synergistic. As revealed by the title of this workshop, the main focus of the lectures was on molecular aspects of the problem. The individual parts of these proceedings cover various approaches. Following quite general comments from a physicist examining the situation from "outside", various new theoretical concepts are developed. During the last decade the advent of Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) has allowed the molecular structure of polymer networks to be studied and thus the reliability of the theories to be tested directly at the molecular level. Recent advances in this field are presented. The use of new techniques such as 2H NMR or QELS and the refinements of more classical, mechanical experimental measure­ ments have provided new information about the relation between the macroscopic behavior and the microscopic structure of polymer networks. Some recent results in this area are discussed for both chemically cross-linked networks and gels built by specific interchain interactions.

The contributors to this volume appraise our knowledge of the molecular physics of polymer networks and pinpoint areas of research where significant advances can be made using new theories and techniques. They describe both theoretical approaches, based on new theoretical concepts and original network models, and recent experimental investigations using SANS, 2H NMR or QELS. These new techniques provide precise information about network behaviour at the molecular level. Reported results of the application of these and more traditional techniques include the microscopic conformation and properties of permanent networks or gels formed by specific interchain interactions, the behaviour of elastomer liquid crystals, and the static and dynamic properties of star-branched polymers.