Rouse-segmented chain model

Doi and Edwards (1978, 1979, 1986). They started with the Rouse-segmented chain model for a polymer molecule. Because of the presence of neighboring molecules, there are many places along the chain where lateral motion is restricted, as shown in Fig. 21. To simplify the representation of these restrictions, Doi and Edwards assume that they are equivalent to placing the molecule of interest in the tube as shown in Fig. 22. This tube has a diameter d and length L. The mean field is represented by a three-dimensional cage. The primitive chain can move randomly forward or backward only along itself. For a monodisperse polymer, the linear viscoelasticity is characterized by... 

The scaling results above all pertain to local segmental relaxation, with the exception of the viscosity data in Figure 24.5. Higher temperature and lower times involve the chain dynamics, described, for example, by Rouse and reptation models [22,89]. These chain modes, as discussed above, have different T- and P-dependences than local segmental relaxation. 

First approaches to approximating the relaxation time on the basis of molecular parameters can be traced back to Rouse [33]. The model is based on a number of boundary assumptions (1) the solution is ideally dilute, i.e. intermolecular interactions are negligible (2) hydrodynamic interactions due to disturbance of the medium velocity by segments of the same chain are negligible and (3) the connector tension F(r) obeys an ideal Hookean force law. 

In this article and its precursor (4) we have presented the mathematical and physical consequences of a model of polymer dynamics which consider the reorientation of monomer level damped torsional oscillators (DTO model). This mechanism was compared and contrasted with the Rouse-Bueche (RB) model which is concerned with motions of large scale segments of the macromolecular chain. The discussion accounts for certain viscoelastic and dielectric properties of polymers. 

In Chapter 3, we used the Rouse model for a polymer chain to study the diffusion motion and the time-correlation function of the end-to-end vector. The Rouse model was first developed to describe polymer viscoelastic behavior in a dilute solution. In spite of its original intention, the theory successfully interprets the viscoelastic behavior of the entanglement-free poljuner melt or blend-solution system. The Rouse theory, developed on the Gaussian chain model, effectively simplifies the complexity associated with the large number of intra-molecular degrees of freedom and describes the slow dynamic viscoelastic behavior — slower than the motion of a single Rouse segment. 

The elastic dumbbell model studied iu Chapter 6 is both structurally and djmamicaUy too simple for a poljmier. However, the derivation of its constitutive equation illustrates the main theoretical steps involved. In this chapter we shall apply these theoretical results to a Gaussian chain (or Rouse chain) containing many bead-spring segments (Rouse segments). First we obtain the Smoluchowski equation for the bond vectors. After transforming to the normal coordinates, the Smoluchowski equation for each normal mode is equivalent in form to the equation for the elastic dumbbell. 

Note that v is the number density of Rouse segments in chains of N segments in length and that are monodisperse. The indexp is the eigenmode from the solution to the equation of motion. Furthermore, equation 65 is the equation for a special form of the generalized Maxwell model having constant coefficients Gj = vkBT (see eq. 18). The relaxation times are given by Xr g/ p. ... 

The segmental motion of a polymer chain was successfully described by a bead-spring model, discussed by Rouse [17] in the so-called free-draining limit and by Zimm [18] in the hydrodynamic limit, de Gennes [19,20] calculated the coherent and incoherent intermediate scattering functions for both the Rouse and Zimm models. In the low Q and long time limit, the time decay of the intermediate scattering function depends on and and the Q dependence of the... 

The Zimm model is based on the Rouse model [6, 179], but includes long-range hydrodynamic interactions between the segments. Both models predict selfsimilarity, not only with respect to space, but also with respect to time. Therefore, the dynamics is conveniently described in terms of an exponent z, connecting the chain relaxation time Tk with the size of the coil R ... 

The Zimm model predicts correctly the experimental scaling exponent xx ss M3/2 determined in dilute solutions under 0-conditions. In concentrated solution and melts, the hydrodynamic interaction between the polymer segments of the same chain is screened by the host molecules (Eq. 28) and a flexible polymer coil behaves much like a free-draining chain with a Rouse spectrum in the relaxation times. 

The earliest and simplest approach in this direction starts from Langevin equations with solutions comprising a spectrum of relaxation modes [1-4], Special features are the incorporation of entropic forces (Rouse model, [6]) which relax fluctuations of reduced entropy, and of hydrodynamic interactions (Zimm model, [7]) which couple segmental motions via long-range backflow fields in polymer solutions, and the inclusion of topological constraints or entanglements (reptation or tube model, [8-10]) which are mutually imposed within a dense ensemble of chains. 

In the case of coherent scattering, which observes the pair-correlation function, interference from scattering waves emanating from various segments complicates the scattering function. Here, we shall explicitly calculate S(Q,t) for the Rouse model for the limiting cases (1) QRe -4 1 and (2) QRe > 1 where R2 = /2N is the end-to-end distance of the polymer chain. 

In fact, the diffusion constant in solutions has the form of an Einstein diffusion of hard spheres with radius Re. For a diffusing chain the solvent within the coil is apparently also set in motion and does not contribute to the friction. Thus, the long-range hydrodynamic interactions lead, in comparison to the Rouse model, to qualitatively different results for both the center-of-mass diffusion—which is not proportional to the number of monomers exerting friction - as well as for the segment diffusion - which is considerably accelerated and follows a modified time law t2/3 instead of t1/2. 

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