Polymer Degradation and Stability deals with the degradation reactions and their control which are a major preoccupation of practitioners of the many and diverse aspects of modern polymer technology.

Deteriorative reactions occur during processing, when polymers are subjected to heat, oxygen and mechanical stress, and during the useful life of the materials when oxygen and sunlight are the most important degradative agencies. In more specialised applications, degradation may be induced by high energy radiation, ozone, atmospheric pollutants, mechanical stress, biological action, hydrolysis and many other influences. The mechanisms of these reactions and stabilisation processes must be understood if the technology and application of polymers are to continue to advance. The reporting of investigations of this kind is therefore a major function of this journal.

However there are also new developments in polymer technology in which degradation processes find positive applications. For example, photodegradable plastics are now available, the recycling of polymeric products will become increasingly important, degradation and combustion studies are involved in the definition of the fire hazards which are associated with polymeric materials and the microelectronics industry is vitally dependent upon polymer degradation in the manufacture of its circuitry. Polymer properties may also be improved by processes like curing and grafting, the chemistry of which can be closely related to that which causes physical deterioration in other circumstances.

Radiation of various kinds is used to initiate many of these modern technological processes so that polymer photochemistry has come to a new prominence and finds a major place in this journal.

The study of all these processes has made extensive use of modern instrumental analytical methods and the various spectrometric, chromatographic and thermal analysis techniques have been particularly prominent.

There is clearly a strong common bond between investigations in various parts of the field. Polymer Degradation and Stability provides a forum for the publication of their work.

Editorial board

Editors-in-Chief

  • Jean-Luc Gardette
    Institut de Chimie de Clermont-Ferrand, Equipe Photochimie, Université Blaise Pascal, Campus des Cézeaux, 63170, Aubière, France

Editors for General Degradation

  • Jean-Luc Gardette
    Université Blaise Pascal, Aubière, France
  • James Pickett

Editor for Biodegradable and Bio-based Polymers

  • Tadahisa Iwata
    The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-Ku, Japan

Editor for Fire Retardants and Nanocomposites

  • Bernhard Schartel
    Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und Prüfung (BAM), Berlin, Germany

Honorary Editor-in-Chief

  • Norman Billingham
    University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, UK

Editor Emeritus

  • N. Grassie
    Scotland

Editorial Board

  • Hideki Abe
    RIKEN Advanced Science Institute, Wako, Japan
  • Ann-Christine Albertsson
    KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
  • Norman Allen
    Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
  • Sahar Al-Malaika
    Aston University, Birmingham, UK
  • Serge Bourbigot
    Ecole Nationale Superieure de Chimie de Lille, Villeneuve d’Ascq, France
  • Pierangiola Bracco
    University of Torino, Torino, Italy
  • Mat Celina
    Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
  • Emo Chiellini
    Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
  • Xavier Colin
    Arts et Metiers ParisTech, Paris, France
  • John Colwell
    Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
  • Ulf Gedde
    KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
  • Peter Gijsman
    DSM, Geleen, Netherlands
  • Alfonso Jimenez
    University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain
  • Francesco La Mantia
    Università degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italy
  • Andrea Labouriau
    Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
  • Pierre-Yves Le Gac
    Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), Plouzané, France
  • Giulio Malucelli
    Politecnico di Torino, Alessandria, Italy
  • Haruo Nishida
    Kyushu Institute of Technology, Kitakyushu, Japan
  • William Starnes
    College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA
  • Matija Strlic
    University College London (UCL), London, UK
  • Yuya Tachibana
    Gunma University, Kiryu, Japan
  • Yoshikuni Teramoto
    Gifu University, Gifu, Japan
  • Sandrine Therias
    ICCF (UMR CNRS6296 UCA-Sigma-Clermont), France
  • Yuzhong Wang
    Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
  • Rongjie Yang
    Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
  • Rui Yang
    Tsinghua University, Beijing, China