Introduction to Polymers - Hardcover

This textbook has been modified and enlarged for the new edition. The introduction and chapters dealing with synthesis and characterization have been reorganized, revised and expanded to give a broader and more thorough coverage. The chapters dealing with structure and mechanical properties have also been expanded to include new topics. This introduction discusses the synthesis, characterization, structure and mechanical properties of polymers in a single text giving approximately equal emphasis to each of these major topics. It has thus been possible to show the interrelationship of the different aspects of the subject in a coherent framework. The book has been written to be, as far as is possible, self-contained, with most equations fully derived and critically discussed. It is supported by a large number of diagrams and micrographs and is fully referenced for more advanced reading. Problems have been supplied at the end of each chapter so that students can test their understanding and practise the manipulation of data. Although the book is written primariliy for students taking courses in polymer science, care had been taken to ensure that other students and scientists in industry and research should find it a useful book for gaining a greater understanding of polymers. This book should be of interest to second and third year undergraduates and postgraduates in materials science and polymers science, other science students, including physicists and chemists, and practising materials scientists and engineers.