About Book

The developments in polymer science has been gaining attention and endured important changes through the last two decades. Polymers are materials made of long, repeating chains of molecules. The materials have unique properties, depending on the type of molecules being bonded and how they are bonded. From rather specialized subject intended for engineers interested in certain definite fields, it has developed into one of the fundamental disciplines common to several branches of engineering and science. Some of the useful properties of various engineering polymers are high strength or modulus to weight ratio (light weight but comparatively stiff and strong), toughness, resilience, resistance to corrosion, lack of conductivity (heat and electrical), color, transparency, processing and low cost. Many of the useful properties of polymers are in fact unique to polymers and are due to their long chain molecular structure. This book elucidates the concepts and innovative models around prospective developments with respect to polymer science. It describes in detail the various concepts and theories related to the field. It deals with photopolymerizable materials, holographic media and polymers with femtosecond. It also explores photophysical properties, polymer photovoltaic cells, optical elements and surface properties of polymers. While understanding the long-term perspectives of the topics, the book makes an effort in highlighting their impact as a modern tool for the growth of the discipline. This compilation will be of useful resource for industrial engineers, technicians and researchers in polymer chemistry and physics, material science, and analytical chemistry applicable to characterizing molecular, compositional, rheological and thermodynamic properties of elastomers and plastics.

Preface............................................................................................................v

Chapter 1 Plasma Processing for Tailoring the Surface Properties of Polymer..........................................................................................................1

Abstract...................................................................................................1

1. Introduction............................................................................................1

2. Plasma treatment of polymers............................................................7

3. Summary...............................................................................................25

Chapter 2 Photopolymer Holographic Optical Elements for Application in Solar Energy Concentrators....................................................................36

1. Introduction..........................................................................................36

2. Solar application for holographic optical elements......................37

3. Advantages of HOE solar energy concentrators..........................38

4. Types of HOEs....................................................................................39

5. HOEs used in solar concentrators...................................................39

6. Experimental........................................................................................41

7. Results and discussion.......................................................................46

8. Conclusions..........................................................................................52

Chapter 3 Photophysical Properties of Two New Donor-Acceptor Conjugated Copolymers and Their Model Compounds: Applications in Polymer Light Emitting Diodes (PLEDs) and Polymer Photovoltaic Cells (PPCs)................................................................................................54

1. Introduction..........................................................................................54

2. Theoretical methodology...................................................................59

3. Part I: TBT-BIPY copolymer for Light Emitting Diodes

(PLEDs).................................................................................................60

4. Part II: Donor-acceptor polymers for photovoltaic cell

devices...................................................................................................77

5. Conclusion............................................................................................92

Acknowledgement...............................................................................93

Chapter 4 Direct Writing in Polymers with Femtosecond Laser Pulses:

Physics and Applications......................................................................101

1. Introduction........................................................................................101

2. Experimental......................................................................................102

3. Conclusions........................................................................................116

Acknowledgement.............................................................................117

Chapter 5 Photopolymers for Use as Holographic Media...............................123

1. Introduction........................................................................................123

2. Optical testing of photopolymers for holography.....................125

3. Photo-kinetic behaviour...................................................................128

4. Improving the spatial frequency response of photopolymers.144

5. Conclusion..........................................................................................159

Acknowledgement.............................................................................159

Chapter 6 Photopolymerizable Materials in Biosensorics...............................166

1. Introduction........................................................................................166

2. The application of polymers as immobilization matrix in

biosensors...........................................................................................167

3. Conclusion..........................................................................................196

4. Acknowledgment..............................................................................197

Citation......................................................................................................205

Index...........................................................................................................207

About Author

Wilfrid Anatoliyovych obtained his Ph.D. in Polymer Science from Public Science University, Chelyabinsk. He serves as an Associate Lecturer at Technical State University, Dnipro. His research interests are in the areas of theoretical soft condensed matter physics with an emphasis on polymer physics, plasma deposition of thin films, tissue engineering. His main written contributions include theories of polymer entanglements, dynamics of reversible networks, and models of charged polymers. Anatoliyovych has attended numerous conferences and symposiums; and has presented 5 papers on polymer science.