The first English monograph on hyperbranched polymers, Hyperbranched Polymers: Synthesis, Properties, and Applications (ISBN: 9780471780144), has recently been launched by Wiley. With co-editors of Professor Deyue Yan (Shanghai Jiaotong University), Professor Chao Gao (Zhejiang University), and Professor Holger Frey (University of Mainz, Germany).
Hyperbranched polymers represent the fourth new emerging polymer architecture, coming after traditional types which include linear, cross-linked and branched architectures. Due to their three-dimensional dentritic architecture as well as unique physical and chemical properties such as low viscosity, good solubility, and plenty of functional groups, hyperbranched polymers have potential applications in various fields from coatings, processing aids, biomedical carriers, stabilizers of nanomaterials, photoelectric functional materials, molecular catalysts and reactors, and many other important areas. Since the first synthesis of hyperbranched polymers in the late 1980s, this area has quickly become the forefront of polymer science. Compared with dendrimers, another subclass of dendritic polymers, hyperbranched polymers can be prepared in a large-scale by one-step polymerization technique, and thus are superior in the industrial applications.
The last two decades witnessed the vast development of hyperbranched polymers, and the concept of hyperbranched polymers has immersed into the physical chemistry, theoretical chemistry, analytical chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry and materials science, and other subjects. Some international companies have also developed the corresponding products. Therefore, it is of urgent need for a comprehensive monograph to sort out, analyze, and summarize the research results, in order to further promote its development. Professor Chao Gao in our department has engaged in hyperbranched polymers for 10 years. As early as in 2004, Prof. Gao and Prof. Yan were invited to contribute a review article of hyperbranched polymers to Progress in Polymer Science (2004, 29, 183-275). The article has been cited for 617 times, the highest citation article in the field of chemistry in China during 2004-2008, resulting in a wide range of academic impact. This time, invited by the Publisher of Wiley, three professors organized well-known international experts in this field to write their own familiar chapters, including synthesis, properties, theories and applications of hyperbranched polymers. This book possesses 17 chapters, and can be used as a textbook for undergraduates and graduates in polymer science and functional materials, and as a reference book for other relevant courses.
(by Donia) |
