1;Preface;6 2;Contents;8 3;1 Introduction;9 3.1;Abstract;9 3.2;1.1 Background;9 3.3;References and Future Reading;13 4;2 Mechanisms of Polymer Polymerization;14 4.1;Abstract;14 4.2;2.1 Introduction;14 4.3;2.2 Radical Polymerization;15 4.4;2.3 Controlled/Living Radical Polymerization;26 4.5;2.4 Ionic Polymerization;33 4.6;2.5 Stereoregulation in Radical and Ionic Polymerization;42 4.7;2.6 Coordination Polymerization;43 4.8;2.7 Ring-Opening Polymerization;50 4.9;2.8 Multimode Polymerization;54 4.10;2.9 Summary and Future Directions;58 4.11;References and Further Readings;58 5;3 Polymer's Characterization and Properties;66 5.1;Abstract;66 5.2;3.1 Introduction;67 5.3;3.2 Polymer Characterizations;67 5.3.1;3.2.1 Mass Spectrometry;67 5.3.2;3.2.2 Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC);68 5.3.3;3.2.3 X-ray Diffraction (XRD);69 5.3.4;3.2.4 Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR);70 5.3.5;3.2.5 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR);72 5.3.6;3.2.6 X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS);74 5.4;3.3 Polymer Properties;76 5.4.1;3.3.1 Physical Properties;76 5.4.2;3.3.2 Chemical Properties;76 5.5;3.4 Summary;79 5.6;References and Future Readings;79 6;4 Polymers for Coagulation and Flocculation in Water Treatment;83 6.1;Abstract;83 6.2;4.1 Introduction;83 6.3;4.2 Polymeric Materials;84 6.4;4.3 Polymers in Coagulation-Flocculation;85 6.4.1;4.3.1 Synthetic Polymeric Coagulants;86 6.4.2;4.3.2 Natural Polymeric Coagulants;87 6.5;4.4 The Underlying Mechanisms of the Process of CF;88 6.6;4.5 A Peep into the Peculiarities of Polymeric Coagulants and the Operational CF Mechanism(S);92 6.7;4.6 Research Gap;94 6.8;4.7 Summary;95 6.9;References and Future Reading;96 7;5 Polymer and Polymer-Based Nanocomposite Adsorbents for Water Treatment;99 7.1;Abstract;99 7.2;5.1 Introduction;99 7.3;5.2 Polymer Adsorbent for Organic Pollutants;100 7.3.1;5.2.1 Nonpolar Polymer for Hydrophobic Organic Pollutant;101 7.3.2;5.2.2 Polar Polymer for Hydrophilic Organic Pollutant;102 7.3.3;5.2.3 Advanced Polymer Adsorbents;105 7.3.3.1;5.2.3.1 Hyper-Cross-Linked Polymers;105 7.3.3.2;5.2.3.2 Bifunctional Polymer Adsorbents for Water-Soluble Organic Compounds;108 7.4;5.3 Polymer Adsorbents for Inorganic Pollutant;110 7.4.1;5.3.1 Polymers for Cationic Adsorption;111 7.4.1.1;5.3.1.1 Polymeric Cation Exchanger;111 7.4.1.2;5.3.1.2 Polymer Chelating Adsorbents;111 7.4.1.3;5.3.1.3 Polymer-Based Nanocomposite Adsorbents;112 7.4.2;5.3.2 Polymer for Inorganic Anions;115 7.5;5.4 Summary;118 7.6;References;119 8;6 Polymer-Based Catalysts for Water Purification: Fundamentals to Applications;126 8.1;Abstract;126 8.2;6.1 Introduction;126 8.3;6.2 Synthetic Methods;127 8.4;6.3 Properties;131 8.4.1;6.3.1 Photocatalysts;131 8.4.2;6.3.2 Catalytic Supports;134 8.4.3;6.3.3 Photosensitizers;134 8.5;6.4 Applications;136 8.5.1;6.4.1 Dyes;136 8.5.2;6.4.2 Hydrocarbons;139 8.5.3;6.4.3 Pesticides and Pharmaceuticals;142 8.6;6.5 Summary;146 8.7;References and Future Readings;147 9;7 Polymers as Water Disinfectants;154 9.1;Abstract;154 9.2;7.1 Introduction;154 9.3;7.2 Antimicrobial Polymers for Controlling Water Microbes;155 9.4;7.3 Properties of Chitosan;157 9.5;7.4 Chitosan Synthesis;159 9.6;7.5 Chitosan in Water Disinfection;161 9.6.1;7.5.1 Chitosan Nanocomposite as Superior Water Disinfectant;163 9.7;7.6 Summary;166 9.8;References and Future Readings;166 10;8 Polymers for Membrane Filtration in Water Purification;171 10.1;Abstract;171 10.2;8.1 Introduction;172 10.3;8.2 Polymers Used for Membrane Filtration;173 10.3.1;8.2.1 Polymers for RO;173 10.3.2;8.2.2 Polymers for NF;178 10.3.3;8.2.3 Polymers for UF;179 10.3.4;8.2.4 Polymers for MF;185 10.4;8.3 Summary;186 10.5;References and Future Readings;187