rJ 31 CY Ls dM F4 B cnY 0 cc z=8 OE 0 U POLYMER-PLASTICS TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING June 1999 Aims and Scope. The joumal Polymer-Plastics Technology and Engineering will provide a forum for the prompt publication of peer-reviewed, English lan- guage articles such as state-of-the-art reviews, full research papers, reports, notes/communications, and letters on all aspects of polymer and plastics tech- nology that are industrial, semi-commercial, and/or research oriented. Some ex- amples of the topics covered are specialty polymers (functional polymers, liq- uid crystalline polymers, conducting polymers, thermally stable polymers, and photoactive polymers), engineering polymers (polymer composites, polymer blends, fiber forming polymers, polymer membranes, pre-ceramics, and reac- tive processing), biomaterials (bio-polymers, biodegradable polymers, biomed- ical plastics), applications of polymers (construction plastics materials, elec- tronics and communications, leather and allied areas, surface coatings, packaging, and automobile), and other areas (non-solution based polymerization processes, biodegradable plastics, environmentally friendly polymers, recycling of plastics, advanced materials, polymer plastics degradation and stabilization, natural, synthetic and graft polymerskopolymers, macromolecular metal com- plexes, catalysts for producing ultra-narrow molecular weight distribution poly- mers, structure property relations, reactor design and catalyst technology for compositional control of polymers, advanced manufacturing techniques and equipment, plastics processing, testing and characterization, analytical tools for characterizing molecular properties and other timely subjects). Identification Statement. Polymer-Plastics Technology and Engineering is pub- lished five times a year in the months of February, April, June, September, and November by Marcel Dekker, Inc., P.O. Box 5005, 185 Cimarron Road, Monti- cello, NY 12701-5185. Periodicals postage paid at Monticello, NY. POSTMAS- TER: Send address changes to Polymer-Plastics Technology and Engineering, P.O. Box 5005, Monticello, NY 12701-5185. 1999 Subscription Rates for Volume 38 (5 issues) Individual Professional International Postage Institutional and Student Surface Airmail Rate Rate Canada Europe Asia Pnnt $1125 $65 $20 $22.50 $27.50 $35 How to Order. Individual professional and student orders must be prepaid by per- sonal check or may be charged to Mastercard, VISA, or American Express. Please mail payment with your order to: Marcel Dekker Journals, P.O. Box 5017, Monticello, New York 12701-5176. Telephone: 800-228-1160; Fax: 914- 796- 1772; E-mail: jmlorders @dekker.com Printed in the U.S.A. Print. CODEN: PPTEC7 38(3) i-xii, 401-580 (1999) ISSN: 0360-2559 POLYMER-PLASTICS TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING EDITOR MUNMAYA K. MISHRA Ethyl Corporation, Research and Development 500 Spring Street, P. 0. Box 2158 Richmond, VA 23218-2158, USA EDITORIAL BOARD T. M. AMINABHAVI, Department of Chemistry, Kamatak University, Dharwad 580 003, India G. CAMPBELL, Department of Chemical Engineering, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY 13676 M. J. CROCHET, Universite' Catholique de Louvain, Batiment Evler, Ave. G. Lemattre, 4, b-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium J. GIACOMIN, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706-1572 K. M. IDRISS ALI, Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh H. ISMAIL, School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia J.-I. JIN, Department of Chemistry, Korea University, 1, Anum-Dong, Seoul 136, South Korea B. H. KIM, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 E. G. KLESPER, Lehrstuhl fur Makromolekulare Chemie, Technischen Hochschule Aachen, Worringerweg 1,5100 Aachen, Germany A. KOBAYASHI, Ibaraki Polytechnic College, 864, Suifeo-cho Mito, Japan A. L. KOVARSKI, Institute of Chemical Physics, Academy of Science of Moscow, Moscow V-334, Russia S. KUMAR, School of Textile and Fiber Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0295 A. MALKIN, Research Institute of Plastics, Perovskii pr. 35, Moscow E-112, Russia 111112 J. E. MARK, Department of Chemistry, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221-01 72 (continued) POLYMER-PLASTICS TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING Editorial Board (continued) C. V. OPREA, Department of Organic & Macromolecular Chemistry & Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Jassy, 23 August Street, IIA, 6600 Jassy, Romania R. C. PROGELHOF, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, Station Road, Erie, PA 16563-0203 N. SCHOTT, University of Lowell, 1 University Avenue, Lowell, MA 01854 J. P. WAGNER, Food & Protein Research & Development Centre, Texas A&M University, College Station, 7X 77843 J. L. WHITE, Department of Polymer Engineering, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325 G. E. WNEK, Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Vir- ginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 843028, Richmond, VA 23284- 3028 rk : c,cn d P0LYM.-PLAST. TECHNOL. ENG., 38(3), vii-viii (1999) CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE J. C. Ammons, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. G. Bhat, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. M. Braun, AlliedSignal Inc., Morristown, New Jersey, USA. E. J. Daniels, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, USA. M. Dever, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. W. Ding, Georgia Institute of Technolgy, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. R. Enick, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. A. T. Griffith, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA. X. Hu, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. E. Karmana, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. K. Khait, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA. A. M. Kotliar, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. S. Kumar, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. L. L. LeBoeuf, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. A. B. Levy, AlliedSignal Inc., Morristown, New Jersey, USA. J. D. Muzzy, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. V. Narayanan, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. D. Newton, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Y. Park, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA. M. B. Polk, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. M. J. Realff, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. C. B. Roberts, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA. vi i viii CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE M. Shah, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. S. Sifniades, AlliedSignal Inc., Morristown, New Jersey, USA. S. Simon, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. R. S. Stein, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA. J. M. Torkelson, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA. L. Wadsworth, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. Y. Wang, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. C.-Y. Won, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Y. Zhang, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. P0LYM.-PLAST. TECHNOL. ENG., 38(3), ix-xi (1999) PREFACE RICHARD S. STEIN University of Massachusetts Amherst. Massachusetts 01003 The problems associated with the accumulation of polymer solid waste is of great public concern. Landfill space in high-population-density areas of the country is often becoming exhausted, and transportation costs to increasingly more distant areas are becoming prohibitive. Although polymers only amount to about 8% by weight of solid waste, their low density and slow decomposi- tion rates make them a very visible component. There is also concern that polymer use represents a consumption of nonrenewable resources. Discarded polymer objects can be unsightly and also can be damaging to wildlife. Although reduced use and substitution by other materials are suggested so- lutions, the performance, convenience, and low cost of synthetic polymers have led to an increasing amount of polymer waste. Recycling is an important means for reducing the fraction of this waste entering landfills and also can lead to the recovery of materials for further use. However, its employment is limited by economic considerations. Polymer manufacturers are unlikely to utilize feedstock of recycle origin if they can use a virgin monomer less ex- pensively. There are several problems that limit the application of recycling. It is well known that many polymers are immiscible with each other and that the phys- ical properties of immiscible polymer blends are often inferior. There are some products that can be made from such “commingled polymers” such as park benches and marine docks, but the applications are often limited to those where mechanical performance requirements are not high. There is not a large market for such use, so most recycling efforts are directed toward dealing with separated polymers. Recycling can be categorized as “preconsumer” and “postconsumer.” Pre- consumer recycling is that carried out by manufacturers using materials aris- ing from their normal production, such as waste from operations (e.g., stamp- ix X PREFACE ing and trimming). Such practices have long been employed and are econom- ically attractive. They benefit from manufacturers being able to readily segre- gate polymers of differing types. The postconsumer problem is more difficult, and its success usually de- pends on either devising