Network formation via end-linking processes

Abstract

For more than half a century, starting with pioneer work by Kuhn [1], the theoretical description of elasticity and some other properties of polymer networks has been drawing attention of many scientists. Several different phenomenological approaches to the quantitative interpretation of regularities observed in the behavior of polymer networks are presently known. However, their rigorous molecular theory is not available yet. The elaboration of such a theory is connected with a number of difficulties of principal character. The most important of them is, evidently, the necessity of simultaneous account of two kinds of disorder: topological and thermodynamical [2]. With respect to polymer networks this means that when calculating their thermodynamic and correlation characteristics one should take into consideration in a proper way constraints imposed on thermal motion of nodes and chains of particular network by its topological structure. The latter is formed during the network synthesis, so that some alterations of its conditions could entail an essential change of the 40topology of the obtained network and, consequently, result in a change of a set of its service properties.