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Determining Tube Theory Parameters by Slip-Spring Model Simulations of Entangled Star Polymers in Fixed Networks.

Jing Cao¹, Zuowei Wang², Alexei E Likhtman³

¹School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AX, UK. jingcaomath@gmail.com.

|April 10, 2019

Summary

This study models star polymer dynamics using a slip-spring model, revealing Gaussian primitive path lengths and consistent entanglement molecular weight (Ne) from static and dynamic analyses. The findings align with experimental dielectric relaxation data.

Keywords:

arm retraction dynamics entangled polymers first passage time primitive path relaxation correlation function slip-link slip-spring model tube theory

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Area of Science:

Polymer Physics
Soft Matter Science
Computational Chemistry

Background:

Entangled polymer dynamics are governed by molecular weight and architecture.
Star polymer relaxation involves arm-retraction and constraint release (CR).

Purpose of the Study:

Investigate arm-retraction dynamics in star polymers using a single-chain slip-spring model.
Analyze entanglement properties and relaxation mechanisms without CR effects.

Main Methods:

Employed a single-chain slip-spring model to represent entanglements as slip-links.
Simulated star polymer dynamics, focusing on arm-retraction.
Utilized a theory for Rouse chains to analyze mean first-passage times.

Main Results:

Observed Gaussian distributions for effective primitive path lengths, enabling extraction of entanglement molecular weight (Ne).
Achieved good agreement for Ne with linear chain models and tube theory predictions.
Demonstrated consistency between static (primitive path length) and dynamic (first-passage time) Ne values.
Determined the tube survival function, showing good agreement with experimental dielectric relaxation data.

Conclusions:

The slip-spring model effectively captures star polymer arm-retraction dynamics.
Static and dynamic analyses yield consistent entanglement parameters.
Model predictions correlate well with experimental observations of polymer relaxation.