so on). The synergy of `petrobased' and `green'

polymer combinations is extensively discussed.

F Schue

Polymer modificationEdited by Graham Swift, Charles E Carraher, Jr, andChristopher N BowmanPlenum Press, New York, 1997pp viii�212, price US$95.00ISBN 0-306-45714-8

Polymer Modi®cation is not a reference text, as the title

might misleadingly suggest, but is a conference volume

containing papers presented at the symposium on

Polymer Modi®cation held at the ACS Meeting in

Florida in 1996. It covers the chemical modi®cation of

polymers in three parts. The ®rst part on surfacemodi®cations covers imidization of PMMA via reactive

extrusion, photohydroperoxidation of unsaturated

elastomers, the synthesis of hydrophobe-modi®ed

water-soluble polymers using phase transfer catalysis,

and chemical modi®cation of poly(lactic acid)-based

products. The second part on reaction with vinyl

polymers, covers functionalization or chemical modi-

®cation of (i) polyole®ns, (ii) acrylamide polymers and

(iii) poly(vinylbenzyl chloride), the formation of

magnesium partially-stabilized zirconia ceramics,

grafting of vinyl monomers on to polystyrene copoly-

mers, crosslinking by glutaraldehyde and substitution

reactions on poly(chlorotri¯uoroethylene). The ®nal

section, on inorganic-containing and shaped poly-

mers, includes the synthesis of (i) tin ionomers based

on ethylene±acrylic acid copolymers, (ii) titanocene

polyethers, and (iii)styrene- and siloxane-based silanol

polymers, the synthesis and ion-coupling reactions of

telechelic poly(dimethylsiloxane), the modelling of

poly(acrylic acid) and its salts, and modelling of boron

speciation in solution with a reactive dendrimeric

polymer.

The book is wide ranging in the subject area

covered, and provides a useful overview of current

research themes in chemical modi®cation of polymers.

The papers describe current research: as such the book

does not provide a systematic reference summary of

the general subject area and provides little information

on the properties of the modi®ed polymers and the

exploitation of modi®ed polymers. The book is,

therefore of more interest to the practitioner in the

®eld rather than to someone wanting a general

introduction.

WA MacDonald

Polymers and copolymers of higher a-olefinsEdited by BA Krentsel, YV Kissin, VI Kleiner and LLStotskayaCarl Hanser Verlag, Munchen 1997pp vii�374, price DM 198, US$147.50, UK£83,OS1445ISBN 3-446-17593-8

The book starts with an introductory chapter on the

principles of ole®n polymerization and then covers the

higher a-ole®n polymers and copolymers in turn,

1-butene, higher linear a-ole®ns, 4-methyl-1-pentene,

a-ole®ns with branched alkyl groups, vinylcyclo-

hexanes and ®nally copolymers of ethylene and higher

a-ole®ns. It is `dedicated' to cover all aspects of these

polymers and copolymers including commercial

manufacture, physical properties, resin processing

and applications. Chemists interested solely in poly-

merization catalysts, reaction mechanisms, structure,

chemical and physicochemical properties, will ®nd it

interesting and informative. Any claim that the book

covers, in the same expertise and detail, all aspects of

commercial production, properties, processing and

applications cannot be upheld. Particular irritations

are the lack of standardized test methods in the

physical property tables and the incorrect use of `melt

index' (when it should be mass or volume melt ¯ow

rate). The chapter on copolymers of ethylene and

higher a-ole®ns is particularly disappointing in this

respect, as these copolymers contribute more than

95% of present commercial production. Most of the

information in the chapter on processing and applica-

tions deals with the newer LLDPE polymers, and this

tends to give the reader a rather unbalanced view of

ethylene copolymers as a whole. This weaker treat-

ment contrasts starkly with the ®nal chapter, which is a

review of the thermodynamics of higher a-ole®ns and

their polymerization reactions.

WJ Allwood

622 Polym Int 48:621±622 (1999)

Book reviews