Langmuir 1991, 7, 2431-2432
Symposia Symposium on Polymer Surfaces: Preface The importance of polymers in today’s world is obvious, as is the fact that every polymeric body possesses aaurface. The nature of this surface, and its interaction with contacting media, are of importance in wetting, adsorption, bonding, friction, and other applications. Recent years have seen the development of new methods of surface characterization, both “wet” and “dry”, which have had a tremendous impact on our understanding of surfaces of high-energy materials such as metals and catalysts. Application of these methods to polymer surfaces has been more difficult but great progress has been made. Chemical modification has been employed to alter the properties of polymer surfaces. Specialattention has been paid to materials of industrial importance including plastics, polymers for biomedical applications, polymer-metal laminates, cellulose, and rubber. A symposium on Polymer Surfaces, organized by the Macromolecular Secretariat, was held during the 199thNational Meeting of the American Chemical Society,Boston, MA, April 22-27,1990. The 56 papers presented included both invited and contributed papers. Financialassistancefor 11nonindustrial speakers from overseaswas generously provided by the Petroleum Research Fund, administered by the American Chemical Society. The first four half-day sessions, coorganized by Professors B. D. Ratner and D. L. Allara for the Divisions of Colloid and Surface Chemistry and Polymer Chemistry, covered the following topics: I. New Methods of Characterization; 11, Analysis of Self-AssembledStructures; 111,Fine Resolution of the SurfaceStructure; and IV, Surface Analysis of Complex Polymer Systems. Session V, organized by Professor T. Davidson for the Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering, continued the topic of Surface Analysis, and Session VI, also organized by Professor Davidson, dealt with Chemical Modification of Polymer Surfaces. Session VI1 was organized by Professor P. Luner for the Cellulose, Paper, and Textile Division, on the subject of Surface Properties of Cellulose and Poly(ethy1ene terephthalate); and Session VI11 was organized by Professor G. R. Hamed for the Rubber Division on Surface and Interfacial Phenomena in Elastomers. Twelve of the papers have been submitted to Langmuir and are published as a group following this Preface and Introduction. Since the first ten of these papers were from Sessions I-IV, I have asked the coorganizers of these sessions to write a separate introduction. In general the sessions were well attended and brought together a diverse group of scientists and technologists,including both “wets”and “dries”,with a common interest in polymer surfaces. Those whose interest lay primarilyin modificationand applications had an opportunity to learn first-hand about the latest techniques for characterization; and conversely. Dimensionally, the papers ranged from the electronic and molecular level to topography at the level of micrometers and even millimeters. It is with deep sorrow that I must note the recent passing of one of the pioneers in polymer surfaces, and a contributor to this Symposium,Dr. Frederick M. Fowkes. His work is largely responsible for what was a common thread in many papers of this Symposium,the importance of acid-base interactions and their distinction from London forces. His keen insight and innovative research will be greatly missed. Avrom I. Medalia, Symposium Chairman 30 Dorr Road Newton, Massachusetts 02158
0743-7463/91/2407-2431$02.50/0 0 1991 American Chemical Society
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