Viscoelasticity and primitive path analysis of entangled polymer liquids: From F-actin to polyethylene

Abstract

We combine computer simulations and scaling arguments to develop a unified view of polymer entanglement based on the primitive path analysis of the microscopic topological state. Our results agree with experimentally measured plateau moduli for three different polymer classes over a wide range of reduced polymer densities: (i) semidilute theta solutions of synthetic polymers, (ii) the corresponding dense melts above the glass transition or crystallization temperature, and (iii) solutions of semiflexible (bio)polymers such as F-actin or suspensions of rodlike viruses. Together, these systems cover the entire range from loosely to tightly entangled polymers. In particular, we argue that the primitive path analysis renormalizes a loosely to a tightly entangled system and provide a new explanation of the successful Lin-Noolandi packing conjecture for polymer melts.