Object and Aims of Polymer Physics

Abstract

The substitution not only of metals but also of glass, wood, paper and leather by high-quality, high-performance synthetic materials is gathering momentum. The continuation of this substitution process has been further assured by the introduction of blend technology, in particular the blending of thermoplastics, which has led to the development of “High-Tech” polymeric materials. It is doubtful whether these material developments could have been made without the fundamental information derived by a consideration of polymer physics. One of the most important tasks of polymer physics involves, from investigation of molecular mobility and deformation, phase transitions, molecular interactions and the resulting supra-molecular structures, the development of an understanding, from a molecular standpoint, of the physical and technological properties of polymeric materials. Such an understanding is a prerequisite for any systematic modification or optimization, in terms of the continually increasing industrial requirements of existing materials and, indeed, for a programmed development of new materials. Such developments require a continuous feed-back between the polymer physicist and, not only, the synthetic and analytical chemists and the development technologists, but also between the physicist and the manufacturing and process technologists and the constructors and designers of plastic articles.