A comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the major mineral and organic fillers for plastics, their production, structure and properties, as well as their applications in terms of primary and secondary functions. Edited and co-authored by Professor Marino Xanthos with contributions by international experts from industry and academia, this book presents methods of mixing/incorporation technologies, surface treatments and modifications for enhanced functionality, an analysis of parameters affecting filler performance and a presentation of current and emerging applications. Additionally, the novel classification according to modification of specific polymer properties rather than filler chemical composition provides a better understanding of the relationships between processing, structure and properties of products containing functional fillers and the identification of new markets and applications.
For engineers, scientists and technologists involved in the important sector of polymer composites.

Marino Xanthos is Professor in the Department of Chemical, Biological and Pharmaceutical Engineering at the NJ Institute of Technology (NJIT), Newark, New Jersey since 1995 and served from 1987 to 2005 as Director of Research of the Polymer Processing Institute (PPI), an independent non-profit research organization located at NJIT. He received his PhD and his MD degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto and a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Thessaloniki, Greece. He has more than 30 years of academic and industrial experience in directing and conducting research on polymer composites, blends and foams, polymer modification and reactive polymer processing, and plastics-related environmental issues. He is editor/co-author of the books Functional Fillers for Plastics, Reactive Extrusion, and How to Manage Plastic Waste, author/co-author of more than 30 book chapters and 200 publications and holds nine US and Canadian Patents. He is also Executive Editor of the journal Advances in Polymer Technology since 1990, and a Fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE).