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09/6/2005 -
Metal-Polymer Nanocomposites (2005)
edited by Luigi Nicolais and Gianfranco Carotenuto
ISBN 0-471-47131-3. Wiley-Interscience, Hoboken, New Jersey. 2005. Hardcover. 300 pages. $99.95.
Nanoscience is an emerging field that is considered to be one of the 21st century's overwhelming technologies. It will have a momentous effect on most industries, including materials, electronics, optics, medicine, pharmacology, etc. This book focuses on a crucial area of nanoscience development: metal nanoparticles and metal-polymer nanocomposites. It presents an excellent review of the topic and provides the reader with useful insights toward new developments in research and applications of metal-polymer nanocomposites.
The book is divided into nine chapters. Chapter One discusses the physical and chemical properties of nano-sized metal particles in great detail. The next four chapters are focused on different methods of synthesis, structural characterization techniques, and properties of metal-polymer nanosystems in which nanoscale metal clusters are dispersed in or chemically bonded to the polymer matrix to form nanocomposites. Some physiochemical properties and applications are also discussed in these chapters. Chapter Six presents different routes for modeling the optical properties of the nanoparticles embedded in thin polymer films, while Chapter Seven introduces the fundamentals of magnetooptics of nanocomposites and new optical methods of imaging magnetic nanoparticles and nanostructures. Chapter Eight focuses on synthesis and characterization of polymer-based optical materials containing gold or silver nanoparticles. And finally, Chapter Nine concentrates on the anisotropic optical properties of some metal-polymer nanocomposites.
Throughout the first chapter, the authors successfully demonstrate the difference between the metal nanoparticles and the bulk in which the properties of the former are size dependent. Also, self assembly of one, two, and three-dimensional arrays, formed from nanocrystals, is discussed in detail. In the later chapters, the authors make a significant effort to focus on various aspects of metal-polymer nanocomposites synthesis and characterization via various techniques. In-situ and ex-situ approaches are extensively discussed. The chemical interactions and particle size distribution are given special attention. Various metal-polymer nanocomposites are introduced with regard to their synthesis and properties, and some of their applications are outlined.
The book contains colored reprints for some micrographs and diagrams presented in Chapter Nine but inappropriately located in Chapter Four. Otherwise, the illustrations in this book are presented in a professional way. Another drawback is that the numbering of the subtitles inside each chapter does not contain the chapter number, which makes it inconvenient when searching for a specific topic. The book contains minor typographical errors. For example, in Chapter One, Section Four, the word "properties" is repeated twice, and this error is repeated in the header referring to this section. The main advantage that makes this book attractive and important is that state-of-the-art topics are discussed. In addition, each chapter has an extensive list of references that would be extremely beneficial for researchers working in this field.
This book is a necessary resource for researchers working in the fields of metal nanoparticles and metal-polymer nanocomposites. I recommend it for anyone involved in research within this field. It is written in such a way that multiple disciplines, such as polymer science, materials science, engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, and optics can utilize it from their own perspective. Undergraduate students will find it hard to digest the chapters that are far from their specialty. However, the research efforts in this field are expanding, which causes manuscripts to be quickly outdated by new discoveries.
For more on Metal-Polymer Nanocomposites, visit the Wiley Interscience web site. |
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