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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...

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...

Polymers: Molecular Weight Distribution

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For any given polymer, the weight average molecular weight (Mw) is higher than, if not equal to, the number average molecular weight (Mn). The only situation in which the weight average molecular weight and the number average molecular weight are equal is when a polymer consists only of chains with equal molecular weight. However, this never happens in a synthetic polymer, since it is difficult to control the polymerization process up to a molecular level with accuracy to a hundred percent.

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...

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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...

Cationic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism

Cationic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism

The cationic polymerization mechanism consists of three steps: initiation, propagation, and termination. In the initiation step of the polymerization process, the π bond of a monomer gets protonated by the Lewis acid catalyst, which is formed from boron trifluoride and water. The protonation of the π bond generates a carbocation stabilized by the electron‐donating group. In the propagation step, the π bond of the second monomer acts as a nucleophile and attacks the generated carbocation,...

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Controlled Synthesis and Fluorescence Tracking of Highly Uniform Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Microgels

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Published on: September 8, 2016

Dynamic crossover scaling in polymer solutions.

Aashish Jain¹, B Dünweg, J Ravi Prakash

¹Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3800, Australia.

Physical Review Letters

|September 26, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Brownian dynamics simulations reveal universal scaling functions for polymer solutions above overlap concentration. These findings, including gyration radius and diffusion, suggest simple relationships between key polymer properties.

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Area of Science:

Polymer Physics
Soft Matter Science
Computational Chemistry

Background:

Understanding polymer solution behavior above overlap concentration is crucial for predicting material properties.
The crossover region in polymer phase diagrams presents complex scaling behaviors.
Rheological properties of polymer solutions are influenced by chain conformation and dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

To map universal crossover scaling functions for polymer solutions above overlap concentration.
To investigate the relationship between gyration radius and single-chain diffusion constant in this regime.
To explore connections between simulation data and experimental rheological measurements.

Main Methods:

Brownian dynamics simulations were employed to model polymer solutions.
Analysis focused on extracting scaling functions for the gyration radius and diffusion constant.
Comparison with experimental data on DNA viscosity was performed.

Main Results:

Universal crossover scaling functions for gyration radius and diffusion constant were successfully mapped.
Evidence supports simple, inferable relationships between these scaling functions.
Simulation results align with experimental rheological data for DNA systems.

Conclusions:

The study provides a comprehensive understanding of scaling in polymer solutions above overlap concentration.
Established relationships between chain dimensions and dynamics simplify the analysis of polymer behavior.
This work bridges simulation and experimental findings in polymer physics.