Comparison of Dielectric and Viscoelastic Relaxation Functions of cis-Polyisoprenes: Test of Tube Dilation Molecular Picture

Abstract

Within the context of the generalized tube model, the tube representing the entanglement constraint is not necessarily fixed in space but moves with time. This tube motion results in constraint release (CR) as well as dynamic tube dilation (DTD) for the chain trapped in the tube. For monodisperse systems, the DTD molecular picture leads to the normalized relaxation modulus μ(t) (=G(t)/GN) being proportional to square of the surviving fraction of the dilated tube. In contrast, the normalized dielectric relaxation function Φ(t) of the chain having noninverted type-A dipoles is proportional to this fraction. Thus, the viscoelastic and dielectric relaxation functions satisfy a relationship μ(t) = [Φ(t)]2 if the tube dilates in time scales of the chain relaxation. The validity of this relationship was examined for linear cis-polyisoprene (PI) chains having those type-A dipoles. The relationship was approximately valid, and thus, the tube dilated for the PI chains with M/Me = 10−30 in their bulk state, although...