Thermal Analysis of Polymeric Materials

Bernhard Wunderlich9783540236290, 3-540-23629-5

Thermal Analysis of Polymeric Materials systematically treats macroscopic measurements by thermal analysis and the quantitative link to microscopic, molecular structure and mobility. Reversible and irreversible thermodynamics, kinetics, quantum mechanics, and statistical thermodynamics are the roots of the described thermal analysis. The book aims to broaden readers’ understanding of materials and the connection of flexible macromolecules (polymers) to small molecules and rigid macromolecules (minerals, salts, and metals). An effort is made to discover how the long, flexible molecules fit into their small phases which are characterized as microphases or nanophases. Their order ranges from amorphous to mesophase-like and crystalline. Ultimately, it is shown that the basic structure-property-processing triangle is connected to the better-known types of molecules and their common macroscopic phases.