Preface
The 20th Discussion
Conference "Scattering Methods for the Investigation of Polymers"
was organized as the 60th meeting in the series of the Prague Meetings
on Macromolecules. The meeting was held under the auspices of the
International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry in the Institute
of Macromolecular Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic,
on July 9-12, 2001.
The meeting aimed
to provide a forum for scientists specializing in scattering methods.
These methods am important tools for characterization of the structure
and dynamics of polymers. Not only the knowledge of the final structure,
but also the structure evolution during the preparation and processing
of polymeric materials are a prerequisite for understanding, predicting
and controlling their properties and functions. Rapid development
of instrumentation for time-resolved scattering experiments has extended
significantly the accessibility of such information.
The topics of
the conference included various aspects of light, X-ray and neutron
scattering techniques, as well as applications of these methods to
a variety of polymeric materials and systems. At the conference, 7
main lectures, 23 special lectures and 41 posters were presented.
In addition, two interesting panel discussions organized and led by
G. D. Wignall, USA (Progress in SANS Studies of Polymer Systems) and
W. Burchard, Germany (Weighing up New Possibilities of Scattering
and Simulation Techniques for Determination of Structures and Chain
Dynamics) were included.
In the present
volume, the papers based on main lectures and special lectures are
collected together with the article written by G. D. Wignall and S.
King, UK summarizing the main results of the panel discussion devoted
to neutron scattering. In this paper, not only the present state of
the art and prospects for future developments in the field are discussed
but also the predictions made at the "Neutron Scattering 'in the Nineties"
symposium held in the mid-eighties are reviewed.
One of the events
contributing to a friendly atmosphere at the conference was an unpretentious
celebration of the 80th birthday of Professor Henri Benoit, one of
the leading people in scattering methods.
The organizers
of the conference wish to express their gratitude to the sponsoring
companies and institutions: Sigma-Aldrich Ltd, Czech Republic; Bayer
A. G., Germany; ExxonMobil Chemical, Belgium; Léciva a. s.,
Czech Republic; Molecular Metrology Inc., USA; Polymer Institute,
Bmo, Czech Republic.
Josef Plestil
Conference Chairman
Jaroslav Kahovec
Conference Editor