Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Radical Chain-Growth Polymerization: Chain Branching

Radical Chain-Growth Polymerization: Chain Branching

The skeletal structure of polymers synthesized via radical polymerization is always branched. For example, the polymerization of ethylene by radical polymerization results in a low-density grade of polyethylene with a heavily branched skeletal structure. Here, the radical site abstracts hydrogen from the growing chain, and the radical site shifts from the end (a primary carbon center) to anywhere within the growing chain (a secondary carbon center). Consequently, the part of the chain from the...

Radical Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism

Radical Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism

The radical chain-growth polymerization mechanism consists of three steps: initiation, propagation, and termination of polymerization. The polymerization initiates when a free radical generated from the radical initiator adds to the unsaturated bond in the monomer. The unpaired electron of the free radical and one π electron in the unsaturated bond creates a σ bond between the free radical and the monomer. As a result, the other π electron in the unsaturated bond converts this species into the...

Radical Chain-Growth Polymerization: Overview

Radical Chain-Growth Polymerization: Overview

Chain-growth or addition polymerization is successive addition reactions of monomers with a polymer chain. In radical chain-growth polymerization, the reaction proceeds via a free-radical intermediate. The free radical is formed from radical initiators, which spontaneously generate free radicals by homolytic fission. Organic peroxides (such as dibenzoyl peroxide, as shown in Figure 1) or azo compounds are popular radical initiators. A low concentration ratio of radical initiator to monomer is...

Anionic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism

Anionic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism

The mechanism for anionic chain-growth polymerization involves initiation, propagation, and termination steps. In the initiation step, a nucleophilic anion, such as butyl lithium, initiates the polymerization process by attacking the π bond of the vinylic monomer. As a result, a carbanion, stabilized by the electron‐withdrawing group, is generated. The resulting carbanion acts as a Michael donor in the propagation step and attacks the second vinylic monomer, which acts as a Michael acceptor.

Step-Growth Polymerization: Overview

Step-Growth Polymerization: Overview

Step-growth or condensation polymerization is a stepwise reaction of bi or multifunctional monomers to form long-chain polymers. As all the monomers are reactive, most of the monomers are consumed at the early stages of the reaction to form small chains of reactive oligomers, which then combine to form long polymer chains in the late stages. Hence, the reaction has to proceed for a long time to achieve high molecular weight polymers.
Many natural and synthetic polymers are produced by...

Molecular Weight of Step-Growth Polymers

Molecular Weight of Step-Growth Polymers

Step growth polymerization involves bi or multifunctional monomers. Bifunctional monomers react to form linear step growth polymers, whereas multifunctional monomers react to form non-linear or branched polymers.
As the step-growth polymerization involves step-wise condensation of monomers, the molecular weight also builds up eventually. Consequently, high molecular weight polymers are obtained at the late stages of the polymerization, where 99% of monomers have been consumed.
The extent of the...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Exploratory Analysis of Sex-Related Immune Gene Expression in Patients With Severe Periodontitis.

Balkan journal of medical genetics : BJMG·2026

Same author

The sensitivity of innovative techniques for measuring low levels of radon in the environment using passive detectors.

Journal of environmental radioactivity·2024

Same author

Efficient Separation of Long Polymer Chains by Contour Length and Architecture.

ACS macro letters·2022

Same author

Adsorption of Semiflexible Polymers in Cylindrical Tubes.

Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids·2021

Same author

Adcitmer<sup>®</sup> , a new CD56-targeting monomethyl auristatin E-conjugated antibody, is a potential therapeutic approach in Merkel cell carcinoma.

The British journal of dermatology·2021

Same author

How does stiffness of polymer chains affect their adsorption transition?

The Journal of chemical physics·2020

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 27, 2026

DNA Nanotubes as a Versatile Tool to Study Semiflexible Polymers

DNA Nanotubes as a Versatile Tool to Study Semiflexible Polymers

Published on: October 25, 2017

Dynamics of a stretched nonlinear polymer chain.

M Febbo¹, A Milchev, V Rostiashvili

¹Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, D-55128 Mainz, Germany. mfebbo@uns.edu.ar

The Journal of Chemical Physics

|December 3, 2008

Summary

Nonlinear polymer chains exhibit complex relaxation dynamics. Inertial effects in strongly stretched polymers reveal energy transfer between normal modes and a continuum of frequencies.

More Related Videos

Stretching Short Sequences of DNA with Constant Force Axial Optical Tweezers

Stretching Short Sequences of DNA with Constant Force Axial Optical Tweezers

Published on: October 13, 2011

Optical Tweezers to Study RNA-Protein Interactions in Translation Regulation

Optical Tweezers to Study RNA-Protein Interactions in Translation Regulation

Published on: February 12, 2022

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 27, 2026

DNA Nanotubes as a Versatile Tool to Study Semiflexible Polymers

DNA Nanotubes as a Versatile Tool to Study Semiflexible Polymers

Published on: October 25, 2017

Stretching Short Sequences of DNA with Constant Force Axial Optical Tweezers

Stretching Short Sequences of DNA with Constant Force Axial Optical Tweezers

Published on: October 13, 2011

Optical Tweezers to Study RNA-Protein Interactions in Translation Regulation

Optical Tweezers to Study RNA-Protein Interactions in Translation Regulation

Published on: February 12, 2022

Area of Science:

Polymer Physics
Soft Matter Physics
Computational Materials Science

Background:

Understanding polymer chain dynamics is crucial for materials science.
Nonlinear spring models capture complex molecular interactions.
Investigating polymer relaxation under stretching reveals fundamental properties.

Purpose of the Study:

To analyze the relaxation dynamics of a coarse-grained polymer chain.
To investigate the impact of bond nonlinearity on polymer stretching.
To compare analytical predictions with numerical simulation results.

Main Methods:

Analytical treatment using the Gaussian self-consistent (GSC) approach.
Numerical simulations employing Monte Carlo (MC) and Molecular Dynamics (MD) methods.
Modeling polymers as bead-spring chains with anharmonic interactions.

Main Results:

Good agreement between GSC and MC simulations at low/medium stretching.
MD simulations reveal energy transfer between damped normal modes in highly stretched chains.
MD simulations show a continuum of frequencies in power spectra for strongly stretched polymers.

Conclusions:

The Gaussian self-consistent approach accurately predicts dynamics for less stretched chains.
Inertial effects become significant in strongly stretched polymers, leading to complex dynamics.
Nonlinear monomer interactions influence energy transfer and spectral properties of polymer chains.