ABSTRACT
In the previous chapters, attention was given to the controlling effect of surface phenomena on the fundamental properties of solid polymers. The development and healing of interfacial surfaces in the polymers and polymer systems have been observed and that greatly different effects, such as mechanical [1–3] stresses and electrical [4] voltage, heat treatment of different type [5], surface chemical modifications [6], etc. Naturally, the general fundamental properties of the polymers like any other fundamental properties have a considerable potential for practical application. As shown in chapters 6 and 7, simple stretching of the polymer in the AAM results in the development in the polymer of a large interfacial surface and, consequently, almost any thermoplastic polymer is transformed to a non-specific adsorbent, capable of sorbing large quantities of low- and high-molecular substances from the surrounding space [7]. In addition, the polymer film, subjected to crazing in the AAM, automatically transforms to a porous separating membrane with the nanosized pore diameter [8], capable of efficiently separating both liquid and gas mixtures. The potential of this method for producing polymer sorbents and membranes is obvious because the formation of nanoporosity in the solid is a very difficult task which in practice is solved by time-consuming and labour-intensive procedure. These applied aspects of the crazing of the polymers in the AAM are evident and we will not discuss them in detail in this monograph.
