Preface

Abstract

This issue is honoring Professor Stanislaw (Stan) Slomkowski, a long time Editor of “Polymers for Advanced Technologies.” It just so happened that at these days it is 50 years of scientific work of Stan (I am allowing myself to use this expression). It just also happened, that we know each other also for this half a century. When Professor Avi Domb asked me to prepare this Preface I was frightened: how could I squeeze into one page accomplishments of somebody who achieved so much in science and in directing scientific institutions. Thus, I am only giving tour d'horizon, preferring to describe importance of selected Stan's contributions than to give a long list. Stan in his early work (habilitation) was studying kinetics of ionic polymerization of cyclic esters. It has been a paradigm in this area, mostly established by the Szwarc's school that free ions are more reactive than ion pairs. Stan has shown that at certain conditions highly polar solvent may solvate ions stronger that ion pairs and the required energy of desolvation may be so large that ion pairs are becoming more reactive. One may find this general phenomena and its Stan's explanation in a number of monographs. After his habilitation, Stan decided to move to the modern field oh nano/micro polymer spheres. One of the most fundamental, quantitative work was encompassing kinetics of polymerization and kinetics of dispersion formation, leading to spheres. In this way, the general theory was established, being at the bases of understanding how to prepare spheres of desired properties. Then, using elements of this theory, Professor Slomkowski elaborated methods of synthesis of particular spheres, serving in numerous areas. Just, to list a few, out of a number of specific applications: diagnosis of the level of antibodies for helicobacter pylori (stomach ulcers), materials for optical biosensors (determination of specific proteins), particles with antimicrobial properties. Besides these biomedical areas, Professor, for the first time, was able to study properties of single, individual immobilized microspheres. Particularly, hardness and elastic moduli were measured, as well as properties of the mechanical properties of slices of spheres. I have to mention, that at the beginning of his scientific work, we were working for some time together. In several instances, our common works required quantitative description Then Stan's perfect command of mathematics gave our common papers level that I would be unable to achieve. Like in the mathematical treatment of ions conductivity, or mathematical description of the cyclization phenomena in polymerization, when Stan was able to show that deviation from the common theories is due to the fact that a given process is not obeying the Gaussian statistics. Stan has got high level of primary education, actually in theoretical physics (Moscow University), spent some time on sabbatical in laboratories of Michael Szwarc (Syracuse, NY) and Rolf Schultz (Mainz), as well as on foreign professorships in the National Institute of Standards (USA) and University of Paris. Professor Slomkowski is playing also important role in domestic and International scientific life. He was serving as Chair of the Scientific Committee of the World Polymer Congress of IUPAC (Lodz/Warsaw 2000), as General Secretary (9 years) of the European Polymer Federation, Executive Editor of the e-Polymers, official Journal of the European Polymer Federation, and Member of the Nomenclature Commission of the Polymer Division of IUPAC, where he prepared and edited several projects. In Poland, Professor Slomkowski used to be for the maximum allowed-two terms- Director of the Centre of Molecular and Macromolecular Studies of the Polish Academy of Sci. in Lodz. During his directorship he organized and chaired multiinstitutional project on Biopolymers and Biodegradable Polymers.