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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Synthesis of Cyclic Polymers and Characterization of Their Diffusive Motion in the Melt State at the Single Molecule Level
Published on: September 26, 2016
Generating moment equations in the Doi model of liquid-crystalline polymers
P Ilg1, I V Karlin, H C Ottinger
1Department of Materials, Institute of Polymers, ETH Zürich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
We present a self-consistent method for deriving moment equations for kinetic models of polymer dynamics. The Doi model [J. Polym. Sci., Polym. Phys. Ed. 19, 229 (1981)] of liquid-crystalline polymers with the Onsager excluded-volume potential is considered as an example. To lowest order, this method amounts to a simple effective potential different from the Maier-Saupe form. Analytical results are presented which indicate that this effective potential provides a better approximation to the Onsager potential than the Maier-Saupe potential. Corrections to the effective potential are obtained.
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