Colloid Journal, Vol. 63, No. 1, 2001, p. 129. Translated from Kolloidnyi Zhurnal, Vol. 63, No. 1, 2001, p. 137. Original Russian Text Copyright © 2001 by Roldughin, Rudoy.

REVIEWS

A Review of the Book “Metal Nanoparticles in Polymers” by A. D. Pomogailo, A. S. Rosenberg, and I. E. Uflyand; Moscow: Khimiya, 2000, 672 p. The amount of literature concerning preparation and study of properties of metal nanoparticles is very large and includes dozens of scientific journals of various profiles. Hence, even specialists who are active in the study of nanoparticles have serious problems with following the progress of research and recent achievements in this field. So, the appearance of a monograph that describes the present-day state of studies concerning metal nanoparticles and polymeric composites on their basis is surely a pleasant event. Publication of this book is also very timely. Although the range of studies is very broad and the state of the art in the study of nanoparticles constantly changes, one can state that a certain stage in the development of this field of physical chemistry has been completed by the end of the 1990s: the main principles of nanoparticle preparation have been elaborated; the possibility of versatile control over their dimensions and surface chemistry has been demonstrated; the main specific features of their physicochemical properties have been elucidated; and considerable success in combining nanoparticles with various matrix materials for producing composites with unique properties has been achieved. The actual content of the monograph is much wider than its title indicates. The first three chapters (almost half of the book) are of a general nature and could open any monograph on nanoparticles. They are of interest for everybody somehow concerned with the study of nanosystems. In these chapters, the authors give a general account of the formation kinetics of the new phase and its specific features for various systems (Chapter I), provide a detailed analysis of virtually all (as it seems to us) existing methods of preparation of nanoparticles (Chapter II), and describe the methods of stabilization of nanoparticle dispersions using polymers (Chapter III). The topic considered in Chapters IV–IX is the one declared in the title of the book: metal nanoparticles in polymers. In these chapters, the authors again thoroughly consider the existing methods of synthesis of nanoparticles, but now in polymeric matrices (Chapter IV), and analyze the role of polymer-analogous transformations in the immobilization of metal clusters (Chapter V). Thermolysis of precursors is described in sufficient detail as one of the ways of obtaining polymer-stabilized nanoparticles (Chapter VI); the matrices considered are both organic and inorganic (including polymer

solutions), and the specific features characteristic for thermolysis of unsaturated carboxylates of transition metals are discussed separately. The next two chapters deal with the problems of “construction” and structural features of two specific but very important classes of nanocomposites: nanohybrid structures on the basis of inorganic substances and polymers, including various products of both sol–gel synthesis and intercalation (Chapter VII), and polynuclear, cluster, and nano-sized metal structures in biopolymers and their analogs (Chapter VIII). In the concluding Chapter IX, the authors analyze the main applications of materials on the basis of nano-sized and cluster particles in polymers with allowance for electric, magnetic, optical, catalytic, and other properties of such nanocomposites. On the whole, this monograph gives a detailed account of methods used for preparation of nano-sized metallic particles and polymeric materials on their basis, as well as a thorough description of their physical chemistry. It contains a comprehensive bibliography and excellent illustrations. We are sure that this monograph will be of interest both for novices and experts in nanoparticles and nanocomposites. Naturally, such a voluminous treatise is not free of certain shortcomings. In their attempt to describe the topic as completely as possible, the authors sometimes present the material in a way that is too detailed, or, on the contrary, too superficial. Sometimes the authors fail to distinguish between the general and particular laws, pertaining only to specific systems. It is also evident that they give personal preference to certain methods of preparation of nanoparticles and certain properties of materials on the basis of these particles. It is difficult to avoid such shortcomings in a book covering such a vast material as this monograph, especially considering that the book was written “on the fly”, when many concepts in the science of nanoparticles and nanocomposites have not yet been strictly established. However, these flaws are not so important as to prevent this scientific work from becoming a valuable instrument for a broad circle of researchers or from its providing the possibility to get a quick idea of existing problems in study of nanoparticles. V. I. Roldughin and V. M. Rudoy

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