Behavior of Individual Polymers

Polyolefin melts under excessive loads are subject to mechanically and oxidatively activated chain cleavage. Polyolefins do not depolymerize. Polyethylene and polypropylene are relatively insensitive to purely thermal degradation, but react easily with oxygen and radicals. Under mild conditions and the presence of oxygen, oxidation is preferred to thermal degradation due its lower level of activation energy (oxidation PE approx. 96 kj/mol vs. thermal degradation PE approx. 264 kj/mol) [20]. 

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We shall then survey the important ways in which fractal structures, including polymers, interact with their environments. This leads to a discussion of the thermodynamics and hydrodynamics of a polymer solution. With the fractal properties in mind we discuss the interaction of a random-walk polymer with itself, finding that these interactions change the spatial arrangement of the molecule considerably. Having described the behavior of individual polymer molecules, we can discuss the behavior of solutions, notably those where the polymer chains interpenetrate strongly. The spatial, energetic and dynamic behavior of these solutions can be understood in its major outlines from the fractal properties of isolated polymers treated earlier. 

Behavior of Individual Polymers under Ionizing Radiation. 557... 

A further interesting question concerns the behavior of individual polymer paths. As we already discussed for the infinite-stretching theories (P — there... 

The most fundamental approach to calculating the stresses arising in a given deformation is to use a molecular dynamics model based on the principles governing the behavior of individual polymer molecules. Such a model generally consists of the following components ... 

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