Michael Hess #, + and Moshe Narkis §

# Laboratory of Advanced Polymers & Optimized Materials (LAPOM), Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203-5310, USA; polychar@marta.phys.unt.edu

+ FB-6 Physical Chemistry, University of Duisburg-Essen, D-45117 Essen, Germany; hi259he@uni-duisburg.de

§ Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Technion City, Haifa 32000, Israel; narkis@techunix.technion.ac.il

Pictures of POLYCHAR-14

Abstract Profile of POLYCHAR World Forum is defined. A brief summary of some of the papers presented at POLYCHAR-14 in April 2006 is provided. Prizes awarded at POLYCHAR-14 are listed.

Key words materials forum, materials theory, materials computer simulations, surface modification

Overview

The 14-th Annual POLYCHAR World Forum on Advanced Materials took place at Nara Women’s University on April 17 – 21, 2006.  The Forum was preceded on April 16 by a Course on Polymer Characterization. The Chair of the Organizing Committee was Masaru Matsuo of Nara Women’s University, aided by Kohji Tashiro of the Toyota Technological Institute, Nagoya, and a dozen or so committee members.   Following the profile shaped and established in previous years, the focus of the Forum is on the quality of presentations and discussions. Achieving high numbers of participants is not among the objectives. Some 240 attendees from 35 countries presented 270 papers. A Symposium on the Status of Women in Science and Engineering was held during the Forum. Excursions to Nara Park (during the week) and to Mount Yoshino and the Horyu-ji Temple (Saturday after the closure) were nice diversions, with the famous Japanese cherry trees just in blossom – as if ordered by the organizers.

Below we provide a brief report from the Forum, listing some of the presentations and all Prize winners. Student prizes were awarded disregarding the format (poster or oral), except for the prizes sponsored by the International Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) limited to poster presenters.  The Forum was also cosponsored by the Japanese Society of Polymer Processing. At http://www.nara-wu.ac.jp/polychar-14/index.html one can see the full Program.

The profile of POLYCHAR has been described before [1 - 5 ]. We put together experimentalists, these doing computer simulations and theorists in one lecture hall at one time. The resulting interactions are sometimes astonishing. Each presenter has an opportunity - but not an obligation - to submit a manuscript based on the presentation to the POLYCHAR Scientific Committee. The manuscripts are considered by our Editors and referees appointed by the Editors for publication. Thus, each author receives input from referees in addition to verbal input during the Forum. The journal Editor-in-Chief accepts the decisions of POLYCHAR Editors on publication.

The areas covered by the Forum in 2005 were:  Predictive Methods; Synthesis;  Nanomaterials and Smart Materials; Mechanical Properties and Performance; Dielectric and Electrical Properties;  Surfaces, Interfaces and Tribology; Rheology, Solutions and Processing; Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering; Natural and Biodegradable Materials and Recycling; and Characterization and Structure - Property Relationships.

A Brief Survey of Some of the Presentations

Listing a selection of the papers presented is once again an impossible task, but here are a few (see also below for presentations by prize winners):

  • AKIHIRO ABE, Tokyo Polytechnic University (coauthored with Y. Imada, T. Hiejima and H. Furuya): The origin of the multiformality of alpha-helical polyaspartates – A highly intelligent system designed by Nature
  • DUSAN BEREK, Polymer Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava: Liquid chromatography of synthetic polymers
  • YUEZHEN BIN, Nara Women’s University (coauthored by Y. Xi, C.K. Chiang and M. Matsuo): Temperature dependence of AC and DC conductivity of polyethylene with carbon fibers
  • MARTIN Y.M. CHIANG, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland:  Combinatorial approach to the edge delamination test for thin film reliability
  • ULMAS GAFUROV, Institute of Nuclear Physics, Tashkent: Molecular mechanics modeling of creep in an oriented linear crystalline polymer
  • ANDRZEJ GALESKI, Center for Molecular and Macromolecular Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Lodz (coauthored by Andrzej Pawlak): Nanocavitation in plastic deformation of crystalline polymers
  • ULF W. GEDDE, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm (coauthored by A. Mattozzi, P. Serralunga, M. Minelli, B. Neway and M.S. Hedenqvist): Small-molecule diffusion in semicrystalline polymers
  • KYOHITO KOYAMA, Yamagata University, Yonezawa: Control of elongational rheology by addition of fillers
  • GONZALO MARTINEZ-BARRERA, Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, Toluca (coauthored by U. Texcalpa-Villaruel, S. Hernandez-Lopez and E. Vigueras-Santiago): Compressive strength of fiber-reinforced polymer concrete
  • GOERG MICHLER,  Martin Luther University, Merseburg:  Micromechanical effects and mechanical properties of polymers based on their nanostructure
  • VIRINDER S. PARMAR, University of Delhi (coauthored by A.C. Watterson, University of Massachusetts Lowell): Biocatalytic generation of novel pharmaceutically and industrially important polymers
  • JUERGEN PIONTECK, Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research, Dresden (coauthored by P. Poetschke, L. Jakisch and V.B. Sadhu):  Synthesis of multifunctional reactive coupling agents and their use in blends
  • JEAN-JACQUES PIREAUX, University of Namur (coauthored by A. Felten and C. Bittencourt): Nano2hybrids: Gold clusters on plasma treated monowall carbon nanotubes
  • JEAN-MARC SAITER, University of Rouen: The random walk model and fragility of glassy materials
  • SABINE SEIDLER, Vienna University of Technology: Macro-micro-nano: Scaling problems
  • RAM P. SINGH, University of Lucknow (coauthored by S. Pal and D.R. Mal): High performance flocculating agents and viscosifiers based on cationic guar gum
  • JOHN TEXTER, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti (coauthored by Ted Provder, Sapon Vaghray, Shyam Malliprakash and Atheer Maid): Dynamic mechanical analysis of fouling release and antifouling coatings and components
  • BERNHARD A. WOLF, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz: Chain connectivity and conformational response
  • CHUNYE XU, University of Washington, Seattle (coauthored by L. Liu and M. Taya): Switchable glass based on electrochromic polymers
  • TRAIAN ZACHARESCU, Institute of Electrical Engineering, Bucharest: Electrical properties of polymers

Prizes

The POLYCHAR-14 Prize Committee (chaired by one of us – M.N.) awarded the following Prizes:

The Paul J. Flory Polymer Research Award (established in 2000 with the approval of the family of Flory) went ex aequo to:

  • WITOLD BROSTOW, University of North Texas, Denton – for his work on prediction of long term reliability of viscoelastic materials and discoveries in tribology;
  • KOICHI HATADA, Fukui University of Technology – for his spectroscopy and other research record presented in 390 publications and also for his effort in transmitting to children interest in research in Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Bruce Hartmann Award for a Young Scientist: 
  • ENIKO MOURI, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Fukuoka – for results on Latex monolayers at the air-water interface.

Second Prize for a Young Investigator:

  • E. BHOJE GOWD, Toyota Technological Institute, Nagoya – for results on thermally induced phase transitions in polystyrene.

Carl Klason Prize for the Best Student Paper:

  • RICHARD T. OLSSON, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm (advisor Ulf W. Gedde)  – for his paper on nanocomposites based on ferrite nanoparticles.

Second Prize for a Student Paper:

  • KINGSLEY K.C. HO, Imperial College London  (advisor Alexander Bismarck) – for his three presentations, including on fluorination of carbon fibers in atmospheric plasma and on multifunctional hybrids.

Third Prize for a Student Paper:

  • KEIJI HONDA, Kyushu University, Fukuoka (advisor Atsushi Takahara) – for his presentation on water repellence in thin films

Diplomas of Distinction for Student Papers:

  • YUYA ARIKAWA, Osaka University (advisor Mitsuru Akashi) – for work on characterization of biodegradable polylactide hollow particles
  • TAKESHI KANEKO, Kyoto Institute of Technology (advisor Mitsuru Akashi) – for his presentation on structures of triblock copolymers
  • HIROMICHI NOMA, Kyushu University, Fukuoka (advisor Atsushi Takahara) – for work on effects of nanofibers on crystallization
  • ATSUSHI NORO, Nagoya University (advisor Yushu Matsushita) – for results on structures of block copolymers IUPAC Student Poster Awards:
  • STEVEN LAMORINIERE, Imperial College London  (advisor Alexander Bismarck) –  for his work on composites reinforced with carbon nanotubes
  • KYOTA MIYAMOTO, Kyushu University, Fukuoka (advisor Atsushi Takahara) – for results on surface and interface structures of blend thin films
  • YUMIKO NAKANO, Nara Women’s University (advisors Yuezhen Bin and Masaru Matsuo) – for her results on carbonization of poly(vinyl alcohol) films containing carbon fillers and metal dioxides

Future POLYCHARs

Below is the POLYCHAR schedule for the next four years:

  • POLYCHAR-15, Rio de Janeiro - Brazos,  April 17-20, 2007
  • POLYCHAR-16, Vigyan Bgavan - New Delhi,  January 2008
  • POLYCHAR-17, Bratislava, 2009
  • POLYCHAR-18, Rouen, 2010

References

  1. Brostow W, Castano VM, Das-Gupta D, Hess M (2001) Mater Res Innovat 4:65
  2. Brostow W, Castano VM, Das-Gupta D, Hess M, Jaklewicz M (2002) Mater Res Innovat 5:240
  3. Singh RP (2002) Popular Plastics & Packaging 47:50
  4. Brostow W, Castano VM, Clarson SJ, Cunha AM, Hess M, Schubert DW (2003) Mater Res Innovat 7:1
  5. Brostow W, Castano VM, Cunha AM, Goeschel U, Hess M, Pietkiewicz D, Springer J, Williams G (2004) e-Polymers no. 002