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Updated: Aug 8, 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
Disentanglement time of polymers determines the onset of rim instabilities in dewetting
Sylvain Gabriele1, Séverine Sclavons, Günter Reiter
1Laboratoire de Physicochimie des Polymères, Materia Nova asbl, Parc Initialis, 1, Avenue N. Copernic, B-7000 Mons, Belgium.
Abstract:
Molecular relaxations determine the viscoelastic properties of polymers, which, in turn, control macroscopic processes like dewetting. Here, we demonstrate experimentally that the onset of rim instabilities is correlated with the longest relaxation ("reptation") time of the dewetting polymer. Conversely, such experiments allow us to determine the reptation time of polystyrene in thin films as a function of molecular weight. Our approach opens up new possibilities for testing rheological properties of polymers confined in thin films.
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