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
Institute of Chemistry of Clermont-Ferrand, Campus des Cézeaux, 63178, Aubiere, France
Editors for General Degradation
- Jean-Luc Gardette
Institute of Chemistry of Clermont-Ferrand, Aubiere, France - James Pickett
Editor for Biodegradable and Bio-based Polymers
- Tadahisa Iwata
The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Editor for Fire Retardants
- Bernhard Schartel
BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Berlin, Germany
Editor for Green flame retardants, thin coatings, textiles and nanocomposites
- Jenny Alongi
University of Milan, Milano, Italy
Honorary Editor-in-Chief
- Norman Billingham
University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
Editor Emeritus
Editorial Board
- Hideki Abe
RIKEN Global Research Cluster, Wako, Japan - Sahar Al-Malaika
Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom - Ann-Christine Albertsson
Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden - Norman Allen
Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom - Serge Bourbigot
Graduate National School of Chemistry of Lille, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France - Pierangiola Bracco
University of Turin, Torino, Italy - Mat Celina
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States - Emo Chiellini
University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy - Xavier Colin
ParisTech, Paris, France - John Colwell
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia - Ulf Gedde
Royal Institute of Technology Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology, Stockholm, Sweden - Jean-François Gérard
Polymer Materials Engineering, Villeurbanne, France - Peter Gijsman
DSM Resolve, Geleen, Netherlands - Alfonso Jimenez
University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain - Francesco La Mantia
University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy - Andrea Labouriau
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States - Pierre-Yves Le Gac
French Research Institute for Exploitation Department of Marine and Digital Infrastructures, Plouzané, France - James P. Lewicki
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California, United States - Giulio Malucelli
Polytechnic of Turin Department of Applied Science and Technology, Torino, Italy - Haruo Nishida
Kyushu Institute of Technology, Kitakyushu, Japan - William Starnes
William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, United States - Matija Strlic
University College London, London, United Kingdom - Yuya Tachibana
Gunma University School of Science and Technology, Kiryu, Japan - Yoshikuni Teramoto
Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan - Sandrine Therias
ESC Clermont Group, France - Yuzhong Wang
Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China - Rongjie Yang
Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China - Rui Yang
Tsinghua University, Beijing, China