Addcon World is the leading Additives, Modifiers and Compounding Conference. It has run for the last nine years. The conference focused on the technical advances and issues facing the plastics additives and modifiers industry. Papers at this year's event discussed the latest developments and the future of the additives business. Addcon conferences are two-day meetings for people who are interested in knowing something about all the major ingredients of a modern plastics product, and not just the one they currently research, manufacture or sell. In this respect they are different from meetings where the focus is on a single type of additive, and where recent developments in related fields can easily be overlooked. Since additives can interact with each other, and even neutralise each other's effects (as anyone combining certain light stabilisers with certain flame retardants knows) a conference that updates your appreciation of the wider technical scene is well worth considering. Additives today play an essential role in enabling plastics to continue to compete with other materials such as wood, metals, paper and glass. several years, and there is still scope for further expansion, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, but this trend cannot simply be taken for granted. The industry faces challenging problems, including a steady increase in European regulatory directives, and the need to compete with low cost manufacturers in Asia and elsewhere. Several large producers in Western Europe have been struggling to maintain their position in the face of difficult market conditions. Improved additives will be needed to produce end products economically, so that they comply with present and future regulations, and in sufficiently high quality to satisfy increasingly demanding customers.

This industrially relevant resource covers all established and emerging analytical methods for the deformulation of polymeric materials, with emphasis on the non-polymeric components. Each technique is evaluated on its technical and industrial merits. Emphasis is on understanding (principles and characteristics) and industrial applicability. Extensively illustrated throughout with over 200 figures, 400 tables, and 3,000 references.

Annotation The breadth of scientific and technological interests in the general topic of photochemistry is truly enormous and includes, for example, such diverse areas as microelectronics, atmospheric chemistry, organic synthesis, non-conventional photoimaging, photosynthesis, solar energy conversion, polymer technologies, and spectroscopy. This Specialist Periodical Report on Photochemistry aims to provide an annual review of photo-induced processes that have relevance to the above wide-ranging academic and commercial disciplines, and interests in chemistry, physics, biology and technology. In order to provide easy access to this vast and varied literature, each volume of Photochemistry comprises sections concerned with photophysical processes in condensed phases, organic aspects which are sub-divided by chromophore type, polymer photochemistry, and photochemical aspects of solar energy conversion. Volume 34 covers literature published from July 2001 to June 2002. Specialist Periodical Reports provide systematic and detailed review coverage in major areas of chemical research. Compiled by teams of leading authorities in the relevant subject areas, the series creates a unique service for the active research chemist, with regular, in-depth accounts of progress in particular fields of chemistry. Subject coverage within different volumes of a given title is similar and publication is on an annual or biennial basis.

Addcon World 2003 was our 9th international conference on additives for plastics. The two day conference focused on the technical advances and issues facing the plastics additives and modifiers industry. Papers consider value creation in the additives business and various aspects of additive technology, including flame retardants, stabilisers, process aids, compatibilisers, impact modifiers, and new pigments.