Foreword

This is a great pleasure for me to write a foreword for the book “Industrial Applications of Polymer Composites” which would definitely be a great addition to the library of documents concerning Polymer Science and Technology and more precisely the areas of polymer technology dealing with the applications of different polymer composites, the area of material science now under sharp investigation. Considering the growth of polymer technology to cater to the ever-increasing demand of society, polymer composites have appeared to us as God’s blessings. The importance and scope of utilities of polymer composites cannot be overemphasized. The entire world of Material Science has been revolutionized since people could sense the widespread applicability and flexibility of polymer composites which now can be tailor-made. It can possibly be mentioned very concisely that the evolution of material science in the last three decades is the evolution of polymer composites.

The present book is a nice compilation of the scope of utilization of different types of polymer composites. The vision of the editors and the authors who are young and energetic academicians with very good exposure and practical experience in the different fields of construction, packaging, tissue engineering, batteries, microbial fuel cell, sensors and automotive appliances is really praiseworthy. Their tenacious endeavour in presenting the current scenario of the role of polymer composites in fabricating items of the different fields as mentioned above is quite inspiring and interesting. The field of construction has seen a sea change with the advent of polymer composites. The use of multi-layered laminar composites has enabled the civil engineer to substitute a substantial proportion of heavy concrete and thus help to reduce the total weight of the construction, an essential need of time. Many polymeric additives are now available to enhance the flow properties of concrete material. A highly durable, light weight construction is now readily available. The packaging industries have greatly benefitted from the use of polymer composites in a great way. The concept of multi-layered films, each film in its turn being a composite one has enabled the packaging scientists to control permittivity and diffusivity of the various harmful environmental gases and thus prolonging the shelf life of the contents. The synthesis of semi-permeable membrane, the most essential component of microbial fuel cells could not have reached so advanced stage so early without the polymer composites. The different gadgets and accessories meant for the automotive sector would not have been possible to be fabricated without the polymer composites. It is worthwhile mentioning here that the authors having expertise in the respective fields described in the book have tried their best to make the readers acclimatized with the products made up of polymer composites finding applications in different fields for their properties that cannot be challenged by other materials commonly available.

I presume the basic mission of the editors and authors has been successful. The readers would definitely be able to feel and sense the fragrance of the book on reading. I pray to the Almighty for its widespread success.