Synthesis and Characterization of Advanced Materials Downloaded from pubs.acs.org by 80.82.77.83 on 01/10/18. For personal use only.
Preface A W I D E V A R I E T Y O F C H E M I C A L A P P R O A C H E S can be brought to bear on the synthesis and characterization of new and technologically advanced mate rials. Advanced materials are usually defined as those that have superior proper ties, are well characterized, and have been obtained by careful control of the synthesis process. Examples of such materials include diamonds, fullerenes and other carbon materials, glasses, ceramics, semiconductors, polymers, and com posites. Materials science is an area of national priority from both a scientific and economic perspective. The development of new materials is the basis of many emerging high-technology industries (e.g., semiconductors and ceramics) as well as a key element in the transformation of traditional industries (e.g., auto motive and plastics). In 1991, the American Chemical Society (ACS) recognized the importance of materials science and the central role of materials chemistry by establishing the Materials Chemistry Secretariat ( M T L S ) . The M T L S pro vides a forum for 14 member A C S divisions to present work in the interdiscipli nary field of materials chemistry. This volume is based on an M T L S symposium titled "High-Temperature Synthesis of Materials", at the 212th National Meeting of the American Chemi cal Society in Orlando, Florida, August 25-29, 1996. The symposium included 55 papers that covered various aspects of materials synthesis and characteriza tion, and it was organized into five major subtopics: thin films, diamond and group III nitrides, fullerenes and carbon materials, ceramics and catalysts, and polymeric materials. This volume contains 21 chapters that are representative of these major groupings. In order to best reflect the content of the chapters and to make the book more useful for those new to the field, this volume has been or ganized according to the types of synthesis processes rather than the type of material. A plenary session was held and included overview talks by scientists from the U.S. Government, national laboratories, and universities on some key areas of research in materials chemistry. Four of these six plenary talks appear as chapters in this volume, including a chapter by Sir Harold W . Kroto, who re cently shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contributions to the discovery of fullerenes. This volume should be of interest to chemical scientists actively engaged in materials research as well as those considering entering this field who want to have an overview of the major types of materials synthesis processes and charxi
acterization methods. The book will also be useful to graduate and undergradu ate chemistry students by giving them information on the roles they can play in the emerging high technology fields of materials chemistry. The symposium was sponsored by the A C S Materials Chemistry Secretariat and was cosponsored by the A C S Committee on Science and the following A C S Divisions: Physical Chemistry, Colloid and Surface Chemistry, Inorganic Chem istry, Inc., Fuel Chemistry, and Polymer Chemistry, Inc.
Synthesis and Characterization of Advanced Materials Downloaded from pubs.acs.org by 80.82.77.83 on 01/10/18. For personal use only.
Acknowledgments We thank the many individuals and organizations who were responsible for the symposium and this volume. The A C S Committee on Science and the A C S Materials Chemistry Secretariat provided encouragement and financial support. Additional financial support was provided by several organizations interested in materials chemistry, namely Advanced Fuel Research, Inc.; B u c k y U S A ; Corn ing, Inc; the Electric Power Research Institute; the Materials and Electrochemi cal Research Corporation; N A M A R Scientific, Inc; On-Line Technologies, Inc; SRI International; and T D A Research. The authors and reviewers of the chapters deserve special thanks for their con tributions. In addition, we thank the staff at A C S Books, Anne Wilson, Vanessa Johnson-Evans, and Tracie Barnes, for their help and encouragement. Karin Dutton of Advanced Fuel Research, Inc., provided invaluable assistance in the preparation for the symposium and this volume. MICHAEL A. SERIO Advanced Fuel Research, Inc. 87 Church Street East Hartford, C T 06108 DIETER M. GRUEN Materials Science and Chemistry Divisions Argonne National Laboratory 9700 South Cass Avenue Argonne, I L 60439 RIPUDAMAN MALHOTRA Organic Materials and Energy Department SRI International 333 Ravenswood Avenue Menlo Park, CA 94025 August 18, 1997
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