This new volume, Microscopy Applied to Materials Sciences and Life Sciences. focuses on recent theoretical and practical advances in polymers and their blends, composites, and nanocompos¬ites related to their microscopic characterization. It highlights recent accomplishments and trends in the field of polymer nanocomposites and filled polymers related to microstructural characterization. This book gives an insight and better understanding into the development in microscopy as a tool for characterization.

The book emphasizes recent research work in the field of microscopy in life sciences and materials sciences mainly related to its synthesis, characterizations, and applications. The book explains the application of microscopic techniques in life sciences and materials sciences, and their applications and state of current research carried out.

The book aims to foster a better understanding of the properties of polymer composites by describing new techniques to measure microstructure property relationships and by utilizing techniques and expertise developed in the conventional filled polymer composites. Characterization techniques, particularly microstructural characterization, have proven to be extremely difficult because of the range of length-scales associated with these materials.

Topics include:

•Instrumentation and Techniques: advances in scanning probe microscopy, SEM, TEM, OM. 3D imaging and tomography, electron diffraction techniques and analytical microscopy, advances in sample preparation techniques in-situ microscopy, correlative microscopy in life and material sciences, low voltage electron microscopy.

•Life Sciences: Structure and imaging of biomolecules, live cell imaging, neurobiology, organelles and cellular dynamics, multi-disciplinary approaches for medical and biological sciences, microscopic application in plants, microorganism and environmental science, super resolution microscopy in biological sciences.

•Materials Sciences: materials for nanotechnology, metals alloys and inter-metallic, ceramics, composites, minerals and microscopy in cultural heritage, thin films, coatings, surfaces and interfaces, carbon based materials, polymers and soft materials and self-assembled materials, semiconductors and magnetic materials. Polymers and inorganic nanoparticles.

The volume will be of significant interest to scientists working on the basic issues surrounding polymers, nanocomposites, and nanoparticulate-filled polymers, as well as those working in industry on applied problems, such as processing. Because of the multidisciplinary nature of this research, the book will be valuable to chemists, materials scientists, physicists, chemical engineers, and processing specialists who are involved and interested in the future frontiers of blends.