Berlin 2008 – scientific programme
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SYMP: Symposium Computational Soft matter physics
SYMP 2: Computational soft matter physics
SYMP 2.3: Talk
Thursday, February 28, 2008, 15:00–15:15, H 0105
Viscoelasticity and primitive path analysis of entangled polymer liquids: From f-actin to polyethylene — Nariya Uchida1, Gary S. Grest2, and •Ralf Everaers3 — 1Department of Physics, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan — 2Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185, USA — 3Université de Lyon, Laboratoire de Physique, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS UMR 5672, 46 allée d’Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France
We combine computer simulations and scaling arguments to develop a unified view of polymer entanglement based on the primitive path analysis (PPA) 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) semi-dilute theta solutions of synthetic polymers, (ii) the corresponding dense melts above the glass transition or crystallization temperature, and (iii) solutions of semi-flexible (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.
R. Everaers et al., Science 303, 823-826 (2004)
N. Uchida, G.S. Grest and R. Everaers, J. Chem. Phys., in press.