Future Directions in Polymer Colloids

Future Directions In Polymer Colloids Hohamed S. EI-Aasser, and Robert H. Fitch (editors) It is appropriate that the first NATO-Advanced Research Workshop on "FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN POLYMER COLLOIDS" was held approximately fifty years after the first synthetic polymer latexes were made on a commercial scale during the mid-1930s. Since that time the field of what is now known as polymer colloids has been evolving rapidly, not only on the practical level, but also on the scientific and engineering levels. Billions of pounds of copolymers are manufactured annually by means of the emulsion polymerization process. "Commodity" polymers as well "specialty" polymers are prepared today for use in a wide variety of applications: synthetic rubber, floor coatings, paints, adhesives, binders for non-woven fabrics, high-impact polymers latex foam, additives for construction materials such as cement and concrete, and rheological modifiers. They are also used in numerous biomedical applications: such as diagnostic tests, immunoassays, biological cell-labeling, (identi­ fication and separation), and drug delivery systems. Small quantities of monodisperse polymer colloids are used as size calibration standards and find extensive use as model colloids to test theories in colloids surface and rheological studies. Advances have been made in our understanding of the mechanism and kinetics of the emulsion polymerization process as well as the stability of polymer colloids. Equal advances were made in engineering areas related to polymer colloids, e. g. modeling of batch, semi-continuous and continuous emulsion polymerization and copolymer­ ization processes.

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Emulsion Copolymerization and Particle Morphology.- 1. Emulsion Copolymerization and Particle Morphology Position Paper.- 2. Semi-Continuous Emulsion Polymerization.- 3. Interpenetrating Polymer Network Latexes: Synthesis, Morphology, and Properties.- 4. Emulsion Copolymerization: Simulation of Particle Morphology.- 5. Monomer Distribution and Transport in Miniemulsion Copolymerization.- Rheology of Latex Systems And Concentrated Dispersions.- 6. Rheology of Latex Systems and Concentrated Dispersions - Position Paper.- 7. Polymer Colloids as Model Systems for Studying Rheology of Dispersions.- 8. Theoretical Approaches to the Rheology of Concentrated Dispersions.- 9. Structure Formation in Flowing Suspensions.- 10. Viscoelastic Properties of Concentrated Sterically Stabilized Latices and the Effect of Addition of Free Polymer.- Polymer Stabilized Latexes.- 11. Polymer Stabilized Latices - Position Paper.- 12. The Stabilization and Controlled Flocculation of Sterically-Stabilized Latices.- 13. Control of Particle Size in the Dispersion Polymerization of Sterically Stabilized Polymer Colloids.- 14. Polymers at Interfaces: Adsorption and Disjoining Pressure Theories.- New Techniques in Characterization of Polymer Colloids.- 15. New Techniques in Characterization of Polymer Colloids - Position Paper.- 16. Characterization of Polymer Colloids.- 17. The Characterization of Polymer Colloids by Fluorescence Quenching Techniques.- 18. Dielectric Spectroscopy of Model Polystyrene Colloids.- Polymer Colloids in Biomedical Field.- 19. Biomedical Applications of Polymer Colloids: Future Directions - Position Paper #1.- 20. Future Directions in the Latex Agglutination Assays - Position Paper #2.- 21. Biomedical Applications of Polymer Particles with Emphasis on Cell Separation.- 22. Biomedical Applications of Monodisperse Magnetic Polymer Particles.- 23. The Use of Polystyrene Latexes in Medicine.