Preface

This work has been edited and organized to provide a solid understanding of the main concepts of polymeric materials at an introductory level, suitable for undergraduate and beginning graduate students in disciplines ranging from chemistry and chemical engineering to materials science, polymer engineering, and mechanical engineering. The second edition of the textbook was organized in a way that flowed naturally from molecular-level considerations to bulk properties, mechanical behavior, and processing methods. I have kept that organization intact with this third edition. I have used this book in teaching a polymer materials engineering course over the past several years, and find that enough information is presented without overwhelming students in detail (i.e., for more detailed courses beyond the introductory polymer class).

One of the big challenges in updating a textbook is to include some of the newer materials, methods, and issues surrounding polymer science while editing and refining the original material so that the end product remains fairly streamlined and provides a balance between describing theories and methodologies while treating each subject with an appropriate weighting. (Of course, instructors are certainly invited to pick and choose topics for their classes, and add material to that covered in the text, but I hope that this provides a good, solid read for students learning the material for the first time without a significant need to supplement the book on the instructor's behalf and without providing so much information that significant portions of the book must be passed over in a one-semester course.)

The text should be suitable for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students in disciplines ranging from chemical engineering and chemistry to materials science and mechanical engineering. I have taught mixed classes with just this background using the second edition, and usually found that some introductory information (such as organic chemical structures) was needed—both for students who had not been formally trained in organic chemistry and for those who needed a refresher. This edition now includes a short section in Chapters 1 and 02 on organic functional groups, with an emphasis on some of the structures found in condensation polymerizations. Several instances of natural polymers are included in structures and examples, including starches and polypeptides, to make the important connection that may building blocks of biology are also polymers.

Some reorganization and combination was done in the third edition, with Chapters 3 and 04 from the previous edition combined, and some of the detailed information on polymer rheology and transport was shortened so that students could be introduced to the material without being overwhelmed. Only small sections were removed, and at many instances, new materials were added, such as the addition of techniques for polymer analysis, processing techniques (including three-dimensional prototyping), and the inclusion of microencapsulation with the coatings section. Updates to advanced polymerization techniques includes some of the emerging techniques to make well-defined polymers, such as atom-transfer radical polymerization, although these methods are treated in a rather brief sense, so that students can understand the basics of the technique improvements and what advantages are achieved compared to other techniques. (In most cases, references are given for those seeking more detail.)

Some of the things that I liked best about this book for teaching an introductory polymers course have been retained. These areas include the description of processes to formulate different products, along with sketches of the processes, the arrangement of the book in going from molecular to macromolecular to physical structures, and the general tone of the book that attempts to connect with the reader through examples that may be familiar to them.

New homework problems have been introduced throughout, primarily those that I have found useful in teaching.

Christopher S. Brazel

Tuscaloosa, AL

August 2011