Mode-coupling theory of entangled polymer fluids

Kenneth S. Schweizer, Grzegorz Szamel

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

A microscopic mode-coupling theory of entangled linear chain polymer melts and solutions has been developed. Coupled generalized Langevin equations of motion for the segments of a tagged polymer are derived and two new fluctuating cage forces emerge associated with intermolecular excluded volume and chain connectivity. In the long chain limit the theory analytically predicts the emergence of a plateau shear modulus, anomalous diffusion and relaxation, self-similiar viscoelastic repsonse, and molecular weight and polymer density dependent renormalization of transport coefficients. These predictions are in general accord with experiments. Crossover from bare Rouse dynamics to entangled behavior, and the significant corrections due to finite chain lengths, are both addressed. Analogies with critical slowing down and the ideal dynamical glass transition, and connections with the phenomenological reptation/tube approach, are discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)947-977
Number of pages31
JournalTransport Theory and Statistical Physics
Volume24
Issue number6-8
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1 1995

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
  • Mathematical Physics
  • Transportation
  • General Physics and Astronomy
  • Applied Mathematics

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