Handbook of Nucleating Agents, Second Edition gives engineers and materials scientists the information they need to increase the production rate, modify structure and morphology, improve mechanical performance, and reduce the haze of polymeric products through proper selection of nucleating agents (and/or the so-called clarifying agents). The book analyzes the existing literature paying special attention to recent developments, and is divided into 14 chapters, each of which concentrates on essential performances of nucleating agents. Chemical origin and related properties of nucleating agents are analyzed in general terms to highlight the differences in their properties and the book also provides the most essential theoretical knowledge required for proper selection and use of nucleating and clarifying agents. This includes polymer crystallization with and without nucleating agents, parameters of crystallization, essential influences on the nucleation processes, the measures of nucleation efficiency, the mechanisms of nucleation, and the effective methods of dispersion of nucleating agents. Later chapters concentrate on the application aspects in different formulations, outlining nineteen polymer processing methods which require use of nucleating agents, forty different polymers which are known to use nucleating agents, and sixteen applied examples of commercial products with nucleating agents. The final three chapters discuss the effects of nucleating agents on physical and mechanical properties of materials, the most essential analytical techniques, and health and safety in use of nucleating agents.
