"Ion exchange", as Dr. Robert Kunin has said, "is a unique technology
since ft occupies a special place in at least three other scientific
disciplines - polymer chemistry, polyelectrolytes and adsorption. " It
may also lay claim to being one of the most widely used industrially.
From its origins in water treatment and the sugar industry, through
hydrometallurgical applications as diverse as the treatment of plating
wastes and the tonnage production of uranium, to the present-day
production of ultrapure water for the microelectronics industry, the
recovery of valuable materials from sewage effluents and pollution
control, the uses of ion exchange are legion. As a result, it is
well-nigh impossible to prevent infiltration by the real world of even
the most academic of conferences on the subject. It came as no surprise
to the Scientific Board of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on "Mass
Transfer & Kinetics of Ion Exchange" that one third of the lecturers,
and one half of their advanced students, were from Industry, nor that
the two round-table discussions, which specially featured industrial
applications and future requirements, were well attended and
enthusiastically debated.