Zimm model theoretical results

Diffusion of flexible macromolecules in solutions and gel media has also been studied extensively [35,97]. The Zimm model for diffusion of flexible chains in polymer melts predicts that the diffusion coefficient of a flexible polymer in solution depends on polymer length to the 1/2 power, D N. This theoretical result has also been confirmed by experimental data [97,122]. The reptation theory for diffusion of flexible polymers in highly restricted environments predicts a dependence D [97,122,127]. Results of various... 

In the case of dynamic mechanical relaxation the Zimm model leads to a specific frequency ( ) dependence of the storage [G ( )] and loss [G"(cd)] part of the intrinsic shear modulus [G ( )] [1]. The smallest relaxation rate l/xz [see Eq. (80)], which determines the position of the log G (oi) and log G"(o>) curves on the logarithmic -scale relates to 2Z(Q), if R3/xz is compared with Q(Q)/Q3. The experimental results from dilute PDMS and PS solutions under -conditions [113,114] fit perfectly to the theoretically predicted line shape of the components of the modulus. In addition l/xz is in complete agreement with the theoretical prediction based on the pre-averaged Oseen tensor. 

In contrast to -conditions a large number of NSE results have been published for polymers in dilute good solvents [16,110,115-120]. For this case the theoretical coherent dynamic structure factor of the Zimm model is not available. However, the experimental spectra are quite well described by that derived for -conditions. For example, see Fig. 42a and 42b, where the spectra S(Q, t)/S(Q,0) for the system PS/d-toluene at 373 K are shown as a function of time t and of the scaling variable (Oz(Q)t)2/3. As in Fig. 40a, the solid lines in Fig. 42a result from a common fit with a single adjustable parameter. No contribution of Rouse dynamics, leading to a dynamic structure factor of combined Rouse-Zimm relaxation (see Table 1), can be detected in the spectra. Obviously, the line shape of the spectra is not influenced by the quality of the solvent. As before, the characteristic frequencies 2(Q) follow the Q3-power law, which is... 

Several theoretical models have been published which predict the change in MWD during degradation especially for a random mechanism. For detail, the reader is referred to specialized books (see, for example, Conley [2]). Kotliar, using Monte Carlo techniques, calculated the changes in distribution for pol)miers with Schulz-Zimm distributions of varying initial breadth. He considered random scission [3-6] and scission plus cross-linking. He concluded that an increase in amount of chain scission for a broad MWD, M jMn > 2, results in a decrease in the MWD, for the case of random... 

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