The book summarizes many of the recent technical research accomplishments in the area of engineering polymers, such as oxygen containing main chain polymers (Polyether and Polyesters). The book emphasizes the various aspects of preparation, structure, processing, morphology, properties and applications of engineering polymers. Recent advances in the development and characterization of multi component polymer blends and composites (maco, micro and nano) based on engineering polymers are discussed in detail. The content of the book is unique as there are no books which deal with the recent advances synthesis, morphology, structure, properties and applications of engineering polymers and their blends and composites including nanocomposites. It covers an up-to-date record on the major findings and observations in the field.

List of Contributors.

1. Engineering and Specialty Thermoplastics: Polyethers and Polyesters (Sabu Thomas and Visakh P.M.).

1.1 Introduction.

1.2 Polyesters Synthesis.

1.3 Polyethers.

1.4 Individual Polyethers and Polyesters and Their Application.

1.5 New Challenges and Opportunities.

2. Poly(phenylene oxide) (Mong Liang).

2.1 Introduction and History.

2.2 Monomer.

2.3 Polymerization and Mechanism.

2.4 Properties.

2.5 Compounding and Special Additives.

2.6 Processing.

2.7 Applications.

2.8 Environmental Impact and Recycling.

2.9 Recent Developments in Poly Phenylene Oxide Based Blends and Composites and Their Applications.

3. Polyether Ether Ketone (Jinwen Wang).

3.1 Introduction and History.

3.2 Polymerization and Fabrication.

3.3 Properties.

3.4 Chemical Properties.

3.5 Environmental Resistance.

3.6 Compounding and Special Additives.

3.7 Processing.

3.8 Applications.

3.9 Environmental Impact and Recycling.

3.10 Recent Developments in PEEK Based Blends and Composites and Their Applications.

4. Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (Benedicte Lepoittevin and Philippe Roger).

4.1 Introduction and History.

4.2 Polymerization and Fabrication.

4.3 Solid-State Properties.

4.4 Chemical Stability.

4.5 Compounding and Special Additives.

4.6 Processing.

4.7 Applications.

4.8 Environmental Impact and Recycling.

4.9 Recent Developments in Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Based Blends and Composites and Their Applications.

4.10 Recent Advances in Surface Modification of PET Materials.

5. Poly(butylene terephthalate) - Synthesis, Properties, Application (Vesna V. Antio and Marija V. Pergal).

5.1 Introduction and History.

5.2 Polymerization and Fabrication.

5.3 Physical and Chemical Properties.

5.4 Processing.

5.5 Applications.

5.6 Compounding and Special Additives.

5.7 Thermoplastic Polyester Elastomers (TPEE).

5.8 Environmental Impact and Recycling.

5.9 Conclusions.

6. Polyesters Based on Cyclohexanedimethanol (A. Martinez de Ilarduya and S. Munoz Guerra).

6.1. Introduction and History.

6.2 Polymerization and Fabrication.

6.3 Properties.

6.4 Chemical Stability.

6.5 Compounding and Special Additives.

6.6 Processing.

6.7 Applications.

6.8 Environmental Impact and Recycling.

6.9 Recent Developments in Blends and Composites and Their Aplications.

7. Bisphenol-A (Piotr Czub).

7.1 Introduction and History.

7.2 Fabrication Methods.

7.3 Mineral Acid Catalysts.

7.4 Ion-exchange Resin Catalysts.

7.5 Solid Acid Catalysts.

7.6 BPA Yield and Selectivity.

7.7 BPA Waste Disposal.

7.8 Alternative Paths for the BPA Synthesis.

7.9 Properties.

7.10 Applications.

7.11 Environmental and Human Health Impact.

8. Liquid Crystal Polyesters (A.B.Samui and V. Srinivasa Rao).

8.1 Introduction and History.

8.2 Polymerization and Fabrication.

8.3 Properties.

8.4 Chemical and Thermal Stability.

8.5 Compounding and Special Additives.

8.6 Processing.

8.7 Applications.

8.8 Environmental Impact and Recycling.

8.9 Recent Developments in Liquid Crystal Polyesters.

9 Polylactide (Minna Hakkaratnen and Anna Finne-Wistrand).

9.1 Introduction.

9.2 Polymerization and Fabrication.

9.3 Properties.

9.4 Chemical Stability.

9.5 Compounding and Special Additives.

9.6 Processing.

9.7 Applications.

9.8 Environmental Impact and Recycling.

9.9 Recent Developments in Polylactide-based Blends and Their Applications.

10. Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomers (Jasna Djonlagic and Marija S. Ntkoltc).

10.1 Introduction and History.

10.2 Polymerization and Fabrication of Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomers.

10.3 Structure of Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomers.

10.4 Mechanical Properties of Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomers.

10.5 Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomers with Different Chemical Composition.

10.6 Chemical Stability of Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomers.

10.7 Compounding and Special Additives for Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomers.

10.8 Processing of Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomers.

10.9 Applications of Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomers.

10.10 Environmental Impact and Recycling of Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomers.

10.11 Recent Developments in Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomers Based Blends and Composites and Their Applications.

10.12 Conclusions and Future Trends in Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomers

11. Poly(meth)aerylates (Qintnin Pan, Hut Wang, Garry L. Rempel).

11.1 Introduction.

11.2 Polymerization.

11.3 Polymerization Techniques.

11.4 Processing.

11.5 Applications.

11.6 Environmental Impact, Degradation, and Recycling.

11.7 Recent Advances in Poly(meth)acrylate Based Blends and Composites.

12. Polycarbonates (Filippo Samperi, Maurizio S. Montaudo, and Giorgio Montaudo).

12.1 Introduction and History.

12.2 Polymerization and Fabrication.

12.3 Properties.

12.4 Chemical Stability.

12.5 Thermal Stability.

12.6 Thermo and Photo-oxidative Stability.

12.7 Compounding and Special Additives.

12.8 Processing.

12.9 Applications.

12.10 Environmental Impact and Recycling.

12.11 Recent Developments in Blends and Composites Based on Polycarbonate.

References.

Index.

Sabu Thomas is a Professor of Polymer Science and Engineering at the School of Chemical Sciences, as well as the Director of Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Mahatma Gandhi University, India. He received his Ph.D. in 1987 in Polymer Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, India.
He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, London and a member of the American Chemical Society.He has been ranked no. 5 in India with regard to the number of publications (most productive scientists). He also received the coveted Sukumar Maithy Award for the best polymer researcher in the country for the year 2008. The research group of Prof. Thomas has received numerous awards and honors for excellent work in polymer science and engineering.

Visakh, P.M is a Research Fellow at the School of Chemical Science Mahatma Gandhi University. He has co-edited several books with Sabu Thomas and has written many journal articles and book chapters. His research interests include: Polymer nanocomposites, Bio-Nanocomposites, Liquid Crystalline Polymers, Rubber based nanocomposites, and Fire retardant polymers.