Polymer Data Handbook

The Polymer Data Handbook offers, in a standardized and readily accessible tabular format, concise information on the syntheses, structures, properties, and applications of the most important polymeric materials. Those included are currently in industrial use or they are under study for potential new applications in industry and in academic laboratories. Considerable thought was given to the criteria for selecting the polymers included in this volume. The first criterion was current commercial importance—the use of the polymer in commercial materials—for example, as a thermoplastic, a thermoset, or an elastomer. The second criterion was novel applications—a polymer that is promising for one or more purposes but not yet of commercial importance—for example, because of its electrical conductivities, its nonlinear optical properties, or its suitability as a preceramic polymer. The hope is that some readers will become interested enough in these newer materials to contribute to their further development and characterization. Finally, the handbook includes some polymers simply because they are unusually interesting—for example, those utilized in fundamental studies of the effects of chain stiffness, self-assembly, or biochemical processes.