Fillers, filled polymers and polymer blends

Design and synthesis of base materials is the very first step of innovation on materials and processes, followed by the search for synergy by appropriate combinations of these materials under different forms and shapes - films, coatings, foams, packagings, scaffolds,. - for a large range of applications including electronics, energy, life sciences and technology, environment, etc. This was the main topic of the first joint meeting 8th European Symposium on Polymer Blends and Eurofillers 2005, organized in Bruges, Belgium, from May 9 to May 12, 2005. This joint meeting showed that problems faced in „filled polymers“ and „polymer blends“ domains are most often very similar to each other and therefore should deserve attention and discussion from both scientific communities. The present volume covers most of the plenary and oral contributions presented at the meeting.