There is considerable interest within the polymer industry in developing methods to modify existing polymer systems to achieve improvements in their functional or engineering properties. The chemical treatment of polymers, either prior to or during processing, represents an inexpensive and rapid way of achieving these modifications, and a great deal of research is underway, directed at improving both the understanding of the processes involved and the development of the practical techniques employed. The improvements obtained by chemical treatment range from subtle alteration of the chemical properties of a polymer to wholesale changes in the physical, mechanical and chemical properties, with the current favourable economics ensuring that industry will continue to exploit the technique in the search for improved polymer materials.
Written by an international team of authors, drawn from both basic and applied research programmes in industry and academia, and with a strong emphasis on the underlying chemistry, this book forms a timely, concise and accessible evaluation of the most promising technologies developed to date.
Chemists, technologists, materials' scientists and engineers working in all areas of the polymer industry, along with academic researchers in those fields, will find this book an essential source of reference in the course of their work.