Advances in Polymer Science 

About: Advances in Polymer Science is an academic journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Polymer & Polymerization. It has an ISSN identifier of 0065-3195. Over the lifetime, 564 publications have been published receiving 51498 citations. The journal is also known as: Fortschritte der Hochpolymeren-Forschung (1965).

Structure and Applications of Poly(vinyl alcohol) Hydrogels Produced by Conventional Crosslinking or by Freezing/Thawing Methods

Abstract: Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is a polymer of great interest because of its many desirable characteristics specifically for various pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. The crystalline nature of PVA has been of specific interest particularly for physically cross-linked hydrogels prepared by repeated cycles of freezing and thawing. This review includes details on the structure and properties of PVA, the synthesis of its hydrogels, the crystallization of PVA, as well as its applications. An analysis of previous work in the development of freezing and thawing processes is presented focusing on the implications of such materials for a variety of applications. PVA blends that have been developed with enhanced properties for specific applications will also be discussed briefly. Finally, the future directions involving the further development of freeze/thawed PVA hydrogels are addressed.

Structural and mechanical properties of biopolymer gels

Abstract: The structural and mechanical properties of gels formed from biopolymers are discussed both in terms of the techniques used to characterise these systems, and in terms of the systems themselves The techniques included are spectroscopic, chiroptical and scattering methods, optical and electron microscopy, thermodynamic and kinetic methods and rheological characterisation The systems considered are presented in order of increasing complexity of secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure, starting with gels which arise from essentially ‘disordered’ biopolymers via formation of ‘quasicrystalline’ junction zones (eg gelatin, carrageenans, agarose, alginates etc), and extending to networks derived from globular and rod-like species (fibrin, globular proteins, caseins, myosin) by a variety of crosslinking mechanisms Throughout the text, efforts are made to pursue the link (both from experiment and from theory) between the structural methods and mechanical measurements As far as we are aware this is the first major Review of this area since that of J D Ferry in 1948 — The interest shown by polymer physicists in more complex biochemical systems, and the multi-disciplinary approaches now being applied in this area, make the format adopted here, in our opinion, the most logical and appropriate

Polymer-silicate nanocomposites : Model systems for confined polymers and polymer brushes

Abstract: The static and dynamic properties of polymer-layered silicate nanocomposites are discussed, in the context of polymers in confined spaces and polymer brushes. A wide range of experimental techniques as applied to these systems are reviewed, and the salient results from these are compared with a mean field thermodynamic model and non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations.

Tethered chains in polymer microstructures

Abstract: Tethered polymer chains refers to macromolecular chains that are attached into microstructures by their ends. Highly branched polymers, polymer micelles and end-grafted chains on surfaces are a few examples. This review brings out the common features of these seemingly widely disparate microstructures. Tethering can be reversible or irreversible and is frequently sufficiently dense that the chains are crowded. Densely tethered chains stretch to alleviate the interactions caused by crowding. They thus exhibit deformed configurations at equilibrium. These effects of tethering on the structure of the polymer chains are reflected in distinctive behavior and properties of microstructures containing tethered chains.

Solution Properties of Branched Macromolecules

Abstract: Dilute and semi-dilute solution properties of several classes of branched macromolecules are outlined and discussed. The dilute solution properties are needed for a control of the chemical synthesis. The molecular parameters also determine the overlap concentration which is an essential quantity for description of the semi-dilute state. This state is represented by a multi-particle, highly entangled ensemble that exhibits certain similarities to the corresponding bulk systems. Because of the rich versatility in branching the present contribution made a selection and deals specifically with the two extremes of regularly branched polymers, on the one hand, and the randomly branched macromolecules on the other. Some properties of hyperbranched chains are included, whereas the many examples of slight deviations from regularity are mentioned only in passing. The treatment of the two extremes demonstrates the complexity to be expected in the general case of less organized but non-randomly branched systems. However, it also discloses certain common features.