114 Book reviews

mena in liquid crystals, ferroelectric phase transitions in(BDF/TrFE) copolymer, relaxation phenomena at high tem-peratures, and detection of heterogeneities in uniform polymermatrices. These sections mainly describe the authorsÏ contri-butions in this area and are not comprehensive reviews butillustrative of the application of the technique to particularproblems. The Ðnal part of the review is concerned withcarbon Ðbre reinforced plastics and the use of ultrasonics todetect defects in these structures.

As always, a volume in the series Advances in polymerscience is well presented, well written and makes a signiÐcantcontribution to the literature on polymer science.

R. A. Pethrick

Plasma surface modiÐcation and plasma polymerizationN. Inagaki.Technomic Publishing, Basel, 1995.pp. xi] 265, price SFr181.00.ISBN 1-56676-337-1

The surface modiÐcation of polymers has been of interest forover 30 years, with particular attention being paid to improv-ing adhesion, wettability, printing, water and oil repellents,etc. This book describes much of the work on plasma poly-merization and surface modiÐcation carried out over theperiod up to 1990. It covers general discussion of plasma gen-eration and its interaction with materials, in particularpolymer deposition and ablation. Subsequent chapters dealwith plasma graft polymerization, surface modiÐcation byimplementation, plasma polymerization, features and func-tionalities of plasma polymers, and Ðnally remote plasmatreatment. The book contains a vast wealth of detailed dis-cussion on plasma interaction with polymers, outlines thebasic principles of plasma polymerization both in terms ofapplications, the balance of factors inÑuencing the productionof particular types of materials, and also the use of surfaceanalysis for the identiÐcation of speciÐc species.

This book is an excellent survey of the current state of art inplasma surface modiÐcation and is a useful introduction toanyone who wishes to enter this fascinating Ðeld. It is a wellbalanced text giving the reader much food for thought.

R. A. Pethrick

Industrial membrane separation technologyK. Scott and R. HughesBlackie, Glasgow, 1995.pp. xiii] 305, price £69.00.ISBN 0-7514-0338-5

The nine chapters of this book, from Ðve authors (three aca-demic, two industrial), describe a wide range of industrial pro-cesses employing membranes. The word “separationÏ in thetitle is more embracing than might appear : the book includesthe use of membranes in synthesis (including catalysis), andelectrochemistry (including salt splitting), as well as in classicalseparations, gas and liquid.

Industrial membranes may be made from organic polymers,ceramics, glasses, or metals. Most of the examples illustratedhere are made of organic polymers, of which about 18 areused, ranging from the cheapest (cellulose acetate) to theexotic (e.g. polysulfonyl Ñuoride vinyl ether). One authorpoints out that a material for a membrane must be available,i.e. primarily manufactured for some purpose other thanmaking membranes. This implies that there are no purpose-made polymeric membrane materials in use today È a depress-ing comment on the state of the membrane art.

Twenty-Ðve percent of the book addresses equipment anddesign problems, helpful to chemical engineers when consider-ing whether or not to incorporate membranes into new pro-cesses. The advantages and disadvantages of particularmembrane materials are reviewed. However some readers willbe disappointed to Ðnd that the general question of why par-ticular membranes are permeable to particular types of mol-ecules is not addressed.

Established applications described include gas separation,water treatment (potable water, process water, and wastewater), electrochemically-driven separations, and membranesfor catalytic reactors. The index is minimal, listing only six ofthe many polymers mentioned in the book.

Overall this book will be useful to various types of tech-nologist, but will not inspire research workers to tackle thekey, unsolved problem in membrane technology È how tomaximise both throughput and selectivity.

A. Comyns

POLYMER INTERNATIONAL VOL. 44, NO. 1, 1997