Issue
Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering,
Vol.6, No.3, 206-211, 1989
CONSTRAINT RELEASE EFFECTS ON THE DYNAMICS OF POLYMER MELTS
The dynamical behavior of polymers with molecular weight distribution is analyzed from the standpoint of reptation and tube renewal. In a binary blend where the entanglements between longer chains are prominent, the shorter chain relaxes only by reptation, whereas the longer chain shows more complex behavior, i.e., reptation in the original tube, short-range tube renewal causing the tube enlargement, and thereafter reptation again in the expanded tube. Dynamic moduli data from literature are used for determining the compositional dependence of the relaxation times. Also on the basis of the relaxation mechanism considered here, the critical composition due to the onset of entanglements between different longer chains is proposed as a function of their component molecular weight ration.