112 Book reviews

use of starch derivatives, including both polymeric materialsas builders and small surfactant molecules in the detergentindustry. The uses of superabsorbent polymers, formed bycrosslinking polyelectrolytes, in nappies, as controlled releaseagents or as sealing agents are discussed by Buchholz andBurgert.

The book provides a most useful introduction to theproperties and uses of water soluble polymers.

D.I. Robb

Antioxidative stabilization of polymersYu. A. Shlyapnikov, S. G. Kiryushkin and A. P. MarÏin.Taylor & Francis, London, 1996.pp. vii] 243, price, £75.00.ISBN 0-7484-0577-1

The senior author of this book (Yu. A. Shlyapnikov) hasestablished an international reputation for application ofkinetic techniques to polymer degradation and of the under-standing of antioxidant action in polymers. It was with antici-pation and a certain amount of apprehension, because of thefearsome nature of some of the mathematics used by thisauthor in his published papers, that I approached this review.I was pleasantly surprised to Ðnd that the kinetics did notunduly dominate and that the conclusions were presented in away that do not deter the physical chemist or the more mathe-matically minded polymer technologist.

The Ðrst three chapters are concerned with the uninhibitedoxidation of polymers. Chapter 1 deals extensively with thesolubility and di†usion of antioxidants in polymers. Chapters2 and 3 discuss the e†ects of temperature with emphasis uponinitiation processes. Chapter 4, the most organic chemistry-orientated of all the chapters, classiÐes antioxidants by whereand how they interfere with the peroxidation chain reaction ; itis also the least satisfactory. Chapter 5 deals with the kineticsof inhibited polymer oxidation and the concepts of “weakÏ and“strongÏ antioxidants and “critical antioxidant concentrationÏ Èthe speciality of the Russian school. Chapter 6 returns to theproblems of oxygen and antioxidant di†usion in polymers,with some overlap with Chapter 1. Chapter 7 attempts to setup general kinetic equations to predict the service life of poly-meric materials by extrapolation from high temperatures andhigh oxygen pressures. The Ðnal chapter brieÑy describes theexperimental techniques used in the previous chapters.

The book is successful È as far as it goes È but, in thereviewerÏs opinion, this is not far enough. Of the 428 refer-ences only 62 (14.5%) are post-1980 and, of these, 45 refer toRussian work (more than half of which are publications of theauthors). There are, thus, only 17 references to work bywestern authors in a period when there has been a proliÐcproduction of papers and books on polymer degradation andstabilization. This is reÑected in a quite inadequate treatmentof antioxidant chemistry in Chapter 4. Omission of the dis-cussion of recent work published in European and US jour-nals would lead the reader to conclude that research intoantioxidants in western countries ceased after 1980. Althoughnot stated, it appears that the book was probably originallypublished in Russian in the 1980s and the reference to only

one paper in the 1990s (by the authors) was added at trans-lation.

For the reason given, the price quoted must inhibit all butthe dedicated oxidation kineticist from purchasing this book.The more affluent university libraries may be able to justifyhaving it on their reference shelves.

G. Scott

ThermoplasticsDirectory and DatabookDavid BashfordChapman and Hall, London, 1997.pp. viii] 493, price, UK£95.00.ISBN 0-412-73350-1

This Directory and Databook is a massive compendium ofinformation : it aids the processes of sourcing and selectingappropriate thermoplastic polymers. It is in four parts : briefdescriptions of seventeen generic thermoplastics (65 polymersin all), listings of suppliers, data and trade name index.Emphasis has been placed on engineering thermoplastics, anddata on commodity plastics is limited. As the book relieslargely on manufacturersÏ data sheets, the information cannever be up to date at the time of printing but it does showwhom to contact. The property data, also taken from datasheets, can confuse because of the co-use of ISO, ASTM andDIN methods. Single point data are of little use for trueengineering applications and multipoint data should besought from material manufacturersÏ technical experts. Thisdatabook can only be a primary guide or Ðrst step for the userbut would be a useful addition to any reference library.

W. J. Allwood

in polymer systemsNano-structuresMacromolecular symposia 106Edited by Hartwig Ho� cker.Hu� thig & Wepf Verlag, Zug. 1996.pp. 439, price US$130.00, DM176.00, SFr145.00, o� S1255.00.ISBN 3-85739-303-3

A rapidly developing Ðeld in polymer science is that of self-assembling structures and the design and control of polymerÈpolymer interactions to generate organization on the1È100 nm scale. This area of “nanostructuresÏ is actively beingpursued both in former Eastern-block countries as well as inthe west. This volume describes a conference (which tookplace on a comfortable four-deck river cruise ship travellingbetween St. Petersburg and Moscow in May 1995) including42 papers, of which 35 are presented as full papers and theremainder are included as extended abstracts. Some of the(possibly more challenging and interesting) lectures presentedby people from the west are only included as extendedabstracts.

The Ðrst six papers deal with novel approaches in the genera-tion of organization in polymer systems. The next block often papers looks at interactions between polymer blends and

POLYMER INTERNATIONAL VOL. 44, NO. 1, 1997