Functional Polymers

This reference work provides a comprehensive and authoritative overview of functional polymers and polymeric materials, ranging from their synthesis and characterization, to properties, actual applications and an outlook on future perspectives. Including over 30 comprehensive review chapters, all written by leading international experts, this reference is also a sound introduction to this exciting field. The book is carefully edited by an international team of experts in the field, ensuring complete coverage of the relevant topics and concise representation.

Functional polymers and smart polymeric materials play a decisive role for new innovations in all areas where new materials are needed. Optoelectronics, catalysis, biomaterials, medicine, building materials, water treatment, coatings, and many more applications rely on functional polymers. This work is a major reference for researchers, scientists, and practitioners working in any of these fields, or entering this vibrantresearch area.

Key topics of this reference work include:

• Polymerization methods and polymer synthesis
  
• Characterization and properties of new functional polymers and smart materials
  
• Functional polymer composites and blends
  
• Applications of functional polymers and smart materials: for electro-optics and optoelectronics, in biology and in medical research, as coatings and adhesives, for gas sensing, in functional membranes for separation or proton conduction
  
• and many more
  

Dr. M. A. Jafar Mazumder is Assistant Professor of Chemistry at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), Saudi Arabia. He earned his B.Sc. (Hons.) and M.Sc. (Chemistry) from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), India, MS (Polymer Chemistry) from KFUPM, Saudi Arabia, and PhD (Polymer Chemistry, 2009) from McMaster University, Canada. 
Apart from his substantial international research experience in academia, Dr. Mazumder has also worked in industrial research and development and can hence look back on vast professional experience. His research interests focus on synthetic and natural organic and polymeric biomaterials for applications in the development of bio-medical devices and microcapsule-based gene therapeutics. 

Dr. Heather Sheardown is a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at McMaster University, Canada with associate membership in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine and an adjunct appointment inthe School of Optometry at the University of Waterloo. She is currently the Associate Dean Graduate Studies (Engineering) at McMaster. She joined McMaster in 1998, was granted tenure in 2003 and was promoted to full professor in 2009. 
Dr. Sheardown’s research focuses on ophthalmic biomaterials and drug delivery systems. She is currently the Scientific Director of the 20/20 NSERC Ophthalmic Materials Research network, which is bringing together faculty members and multinational companies. Recognizing a need for an interdisciplinary approach to solving clinical problems with a materials focus, Sheardown’s vision for the network involved creating a multidisciplinary team with research interests spanning materials chemistry, ocular drug delivery, and ocular biology. The team also includes an optometrist and a clinical ophthalmologist. Sheardown has published over 120 papers in top biomaterials journals and given numerous keynote lectures at international conferences. Due to the applied nature of her work, she has excellent contacts to several companies in the field of biomaterials, ophthalmic materials and drug research. 

Dr. Amir-Al-Ahmed is Assistant Professor at the Center of Research Excellence in Renewable Energy at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), Saudi Arabia. After obtaining his PhD degree in applied chemistry on conducting polymer based composites and their applications from the Zakir Hussain College of Engineering and Technology, AMU, India in 2003, he moved to South Africa to work on nano-structured conducting polymers for biosensor applications and the detection of antiretroviral drugs in human blood samples using electrochemical detection systems. He joined KFUPM in 2010, where his work now focuses on non-fluorinated composite membranes for fuel cells, electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation and on electrochemical reduction of CO2 to hydrocarbons. Throughout his career, Dr. Al-Ahmed has been able to gain broad experience in different fields, from materials chemistry to electrocatalysis for applications in energy conversion and storage as well as sensor development. 
Dr. Al-Ahmed is an experienced book editor and also serves as Editor-in-Chief of an international open access journal.