In 1980 the New York Academy of Sciences sponsored a three-day conference on luminescence in biological and synthetic macromolecules. After that meeting, Professor Frans DeSchryver and I began to discuss the possibility of organizing a different kind of meeting, with time for both informal and in-depth discussions, to examine certain aspects of the application of fluorescence and phosphorescence spectroscopy to polymers. Our ideas developed through discussions with many others, particularly Professor Lucien Monnerie. By 1983, when we submitted our proposal to NATO for an Advanced Study Institute, the area had grown enormous ly. It is interesting in retrospect to look back on the points which emerged from these discussions as the basis around which the scientific program would be organized and the speakers chosen. We decided early on to focus on applications of these methods to provide information about polymer molecules and polymer systems: The topics would all relate to the conformation and dynamics of macromolecules, or to the morphology of polymer-containing systems. Another important decision was to expand the scope of the ASI to include certain photochemical techniques, parti­ cular ly laser flash pho to lys is. These appl icat ions were at the time quite new, but full of promise as important sources of information about polymers.

Inhalt

Fluorescence Phenomena Useful for the Study of Polymers.- Spectroscopic Methods.- Fluorescence and Phosphorescence Spectroscopy in Polymer Systems: A General Introduction.- An Introduction to Transient Absorption Spectroscopy and Non-Linear Photochemical Behavior of Polymer Systems.- Electron Transfer Dynamics in the Excited Polymer and Related Systems in Solution.- Studies of Polymers Carrying Medium-Sensitive Fluorophores.- Singlet Energy Migration, Trapping and Excimer Formation in Polymers.- Analysis of Fluorescence Decay Data from Synthetic Polymers: Heterogeneity, Motion and Migration.- Polymer Solutions and Melts.- Polymer Theory: A Conspectus of Several Recent Advances.- Local Molecular Dynamics Studies of Polymer Chains - in Solution and in Bulk - Using the Fluorescence Anisotropy Decay Technique.- Fluorescence Probing of the Local Dynamics in Polymers: A Model Approach.- Spectroscopic Studies of Rates of Hindered Rotation in the Backbones of High Polymers and Their Analogs.- Light Induced Conformational Changes of Synthetic Polymers.- The Cyclization of Polymer Chains in Solution.- Folding and Dynamics of Proteins Studied by Non-Radiative Energy Transfer Measurements.- Rotational Dynamics of Biological Macromolecules.- The Fluorescence Polarization Technique as a Tool to Investigate Chain Orientation and Relaxation in Bulk Polymers.- Photochemical Methods for Measuring Polymer Diffusion.- Polymers in the Glassy State.- Current Problems in Understanding the Behavior of Polymer Glasses.- Fluorescence Probes for Polymer Free Volume.- Excimer Fluorescence as a Probe of Mobility in Polymer Melts.- Mass Diffusion in Solid Polymers.- Electronic Excitation Transport as a Tool for the Study of Polymer Chain Statistics.- Polymer Blends and Phase Separation.- Polymer Blend Thermodynamics: Flory Huggins Theory and its Application to Excimer Fluorescence Studies.- Characterization of the Interpenetration of Chain Molecules by Non-Radiative Energy Transfer.- Rotational Dyad Statistics and Energy Migration in Miscible and Immiscible Polystyrene/Poly(vinyl methyl ether) Blends.- Fluorescence Quenching of Anthracene-Labelled Polystyrene by Poly(vinylmethylether): A New Approach for the Analysis of Phase Separation Phenomena.- Luminescence Techniques to Study the Morphology of Prototype Industrial Materials.- Contributors.- List of Participants.