Polymer Phase Diagrams

Book excerpt: Polymeric materials include plastics, gels, synthetic fibres, and rubbers. They are all-important both in industry and in daily life. Unlike liquid water, ice, or sugar solution, polymers are not homogeneous. They are said to consist of two or more phases, and their production and processing, as well as their properties and uses, depend on an understanding of the transitions that take place between these phases. This new textbook uses fundamental principles to classify phase separation phenomena in polymer systems, and describes simple molecular models explaining the observed behaviour.