Polymers selected for this edition of the Handbook of Polymers include all primary polymeric materials used by the plastics and other branches of the chemical industry and specialty polymers used in the electronics, pharmaceutical, medical, and space fields. Extensive information is included on biopolymers.
The data included in the Handbook of Polymers come from open literature (published articles, conference papers, and books), literature available from manufacturers of various grades of polymers, plastics, and finished products, and patent literature. The above sources were searched, including the most recent literature. It can be seen from the references that a large portion of the data comes from information published in 2011-2021. This underscores one of this undertaking's significant goals: to provide readers with the most up-to-date information.
Frequently, data from different sources vary in a broad range, and they have to be reconciled. In such cases, values closest to their average and values based on testing of the most current grades of materials are selected to provide readers with information that is characteristic of currently available products, focusing on the potential use of data in solving practical problems. In this process of verification, many older data were rejected unless recently conducted studies have confirmed them.
The presentation of data for all polymers is based on a consistent pattern of data arrangement, although, depending on data availability, only data fields that contain actual values are included for each polymer. The entire scope of the data is divided into sections to make data comparison and search easy.
The data groups include general, history, synthesis, structure, commercial polymers, physical properties, mechanical properties, chemical resistance, flammability, weather stability, biodegradation, toxicity, processing, blends, and analysis. In total, over 250 different types of data are included in the above groups.
It can be anticipated from the above breakdown of information that the Handbook of Polymers contains information on all essential data used in practical applications, research, and legislation, providing that such data are available for a particular material. In total, over 230 different types of data were searched for each individual polymer. The last number does not include special fields that might be added to characterize specialty polymers' performance in their applications.
We hope that our thorough search of data will be useful and that users of this book will skillfully apply the data to benefit their research and applications.
The contents, scope, treatment of the data (comparison of data from different sources and their qualification), and novelty of the data qualify the book to be found on the desk of anyone working with polymeric materials.
Polymeric materials used in electronics require special sets of data for various applications. These materials are the most frequently compounded plastics, containing suitable additives to achieve the required set of properties. Those who are interested in these materials should also consider the recently published Handbook of Polymers in Electronics.
George Wypych has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering. His professional expertise includes both university teaching (full professor) and research and development. He has published 18 books, 47 scientific papers, and he has obtained 16 patents. He specializes in polymer additives, polymer processing and formulation, material durability and the development of sealants and coatings.
