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Ubertini MA, Rosa A. Topological Analysis and Recovery of Entanglements in Polymer Melts. Macromolecules 2023; 56:3354-3362. [PMID: 37181245 PMCID: PMC10173697 DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2023] [Revised: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
The viscous flow of polymer chains in dense melts is dominated by topological constraints whenever the single-chain contour length, N, becomes larger than the characteristic scale Ne, defining comprehensively the macroscopic rheological properties of the highly entangled polymer systems. Even though they are naturally connected to the presence of hard constraints like knots and links within the polymer chains, the difficulty of integrating the rigorous language of mathematical topology with the physics of polymer melts has limited somehow a genuine topological approach to the problem of classifying these constraints and to how they are related to the rheological entanglements. In this work, we tackle this problem by studying the occurrence of knots and links in lattice melts of randomly knotted and randomly concatenated ring polymers with various bending stiffness values. Specifically, by introducing an algorithm that shrinks the chains to their minimal shapes that do not violate topological constraints and by analyzing those in terms of suitable topological invariants, we provide a detailed characterization of the topological properties at the intrachain level (knots) and of links between pairs and triplets of distinct chains. Then, by employing the Z1 algorithm on the minimal conformations to extract the entanglement length Ne, we show that the ratio N/Ne, the number of entanglements per chain, can be remarkably well reconstructed in terms of only two-chain links.
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Rauscher PM, de Pablo JJ. Random Knotting in Fractal Ring Polymers. Macromolecules 2022; 55:8409-8417. [PMID: 36186575 PMCID: PMC9520986 DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c01676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2022] [Revised: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
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Many ring polymer
systems of physical and biological
interest exhibit
both pronounced topological effects and nontrivial self-similarity,
but the relationship between these two phenomena has not yet been
clearly established. Here, we use theory and simulation to formulate
such a connection by studying a fundamental topological property—the
random knotting probability—for ring polymers with varying
fractal dimension, df. Using straightforward scaling arguments, we generalize a classic
mathematical result, showing that the probability of a trivial knot
decays exponentially with chain size, N, for all
fractal dimensions: P0(N) ∝ exp(−N/N0). However, no such simple considerations can account for
the dependence of the knotting length, N0, on df, necessitating
a more involved analytical calculation. This analysis reveals a complicated
double-exponential dependence, which is well supported by numerical
data. By contrast, functional forms typical of simple scaling theories
fail to adequately describe the observations. These findings are equally
valid for two-dimensional ring polymer systems, where “knotting”
is defined as the intersection of any two segments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phillip M. Rauscher
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Juan J. de Pablo
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
- Materials Science Division (MSD) and Center for Molecular Engineering (CME), Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Lang
- Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, Hohe Str. 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany
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Abstract
Different methods for creating Olympic gels are analyzed using computer simulations. First ideal reference samples are obtained from freely interpenetrating semi-dilute solutions and melts of cyclic polymers. The distribution of pairwise concatenations per cyclic molecule is given by a Poisson-distribution and can be used to describe the elastic structure of the gels. Several batches of linear chains decorated with different selectively binding groups at their ends are mixed in the "DNA Origami" technique and network formation is realized. While the formation of cyclic molecules follows mean field predictions below overlap of the precursor molecules, an enhanced ring formation above overlap is found that is not explained by mean field arguments. The "progressive construction" method allows to create Olympic gels with a single reaction step from a concentrated mixture of large compressed rings with a low weight fraction of short chains that are below overlap concentration. This method, however, is limited by the difficulty to obtain a sufficiently high degree of polymerization of the large rings.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Fischer
- Leibniz Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden, Hohe Straße 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany
| | - M Lang
- Leibniz Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden, Hohe Straße 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany
| | - J-U Sommer
- Leibniz Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden, Hohe Straße 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany
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Affiliation(s)
- M. Lang
- Leibniz Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden, Hohe Straße 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany
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Anogiannakis SD, Tzoumanekas C, Theodorou DN. Microscopic Description of Entanglements in Polyethylene Networks and Melts: Strong, Weak, Pairwise, and Collective Attributes. Macromolecules 2012. [DOI: 10.1021/ma300912z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Stefanos D. Anogiannakis
- School of Chemical Engineering, Zografou Campus, National Technical University of Athens, GR-15780 Athens,
Greece
| | - Christos Tzoumanekas
- School of Chemical Engineering, Zografou Campus, National Technical University of Athens, GR-15780 Athens,
Greece
- Dutch Polymer Institute (DPI), P.O. Box 902, 5600 AX Eindhoven,
The Netherlands
| | - Doros N. Theodorou
- School of Chemical Engineering, Zografou Campus, National Technical University of Athens, GR-15780 Athens,
Greece
- Dutch Polymer Institute (DPI), P.O. Box 902, 5600 AX Eindhoven,
The Netherlands
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Lang M, Fischer J, Sommer JU. Effect of Topology on the Conformations of Ring Polymers. Macromolecules 2012. [DOI: 10.1021/ma300942a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M. Lang
- Theory of
Polymers, Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden, Hohe Strasse 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany
| | - J. Fischer
- Theory of
Polymers, Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden, Hohe Strasse 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany
- Technische Universität Dresden, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Zellescher
Weg 17, D-01069 Dresden, Germany
| | - J.-U. Sommer
- Theory of
Polymers, Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden, Hohe Strasse 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany
- Technische Universität Dresden, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Zellescher
Weg 17, D-01069 Dresden, Germany
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Nilsson F, Lan X, Gkourmpis T, Hedenqvist M, Gedde U. Modelling tie chains and trapped entanglements in polyethylene. POLYMER 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2012.05.045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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9
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Hanson DE. The distributions of chain lengths in a crosslinked polyisoprene network. J Chem Phys 2011; 134:064906. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3534909] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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10
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Xiao J, Huang Y. Microstructure-property-quality-correlated paint design: An LMC-based approach. AIChE J 2009. [DOI: 10.1002/aic.11651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
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Wacha M, Kreitmeier S. Dynamical behavior of entanglements by means of the mean standard deviation. J Chem Phys 2005; 123:24901. [PMID: 16050768 DOI: 10.1063/1.1948379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
In this paper we present our results on the dynamical behavior within the interior parts of an entanglement. Therefore, we analyzed the mean standard deviation s(m) for each monomer of the entangled chains. The calculations were performed at two deformation ratios for three different basic systems-the cross, slant, and along systems-each of them representing a different structural orientation of the entanglement. Additionally, we varied the number of loops l, the distance a of the end monomers, and the inverse temperature beta. Depending on the number of loops l we get different effects. Whereas a one time entangled system rather acts like a chemical cross link, a six times entangled system forms an unoriented entangled area and an orientated residual part.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcus Wacha
- Institute for Experimental and Applied Physics, Polymer Physics, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany.
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Svaneborg C, Grest GS, Everaers R. Disorder effects on the strain response of model polymer networks. POLYMER 2005. [DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2005.03.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Lang M, Göritz D, Kreitmeier S. Intramolecular Reactions in Randomly End-Linked Polymer Networks and Linear (Co)polymerizations. Macromolecules 2005. [DOI: 10.1021/ma049025z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Michael Lang
- Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, University of Regensburg, Polymer Physics, 93040 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Dietmar Göritz
- Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, University of Regensburg, Polymer Physics, 93040 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Stefan Kreitmeier
- Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, University of Regensburg, Polymer Physics, 93040 Regensburg, Germany
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Everaers R, Sukumaran SK, Grest GS, Svaneborg C, Sivasubramanian A, Kremer K. Rheology and Microscopic Topology of Entangled Polymeric Liquids. Science 2004; 303:823-6. [PMID: 14764875 DOI: 10.1126/science.1091215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 493] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
The viscoelastic properties of high molecular weight polymeric liquids are dominated by topological constraints on a molecular scale. In a manner similar to that of entangled ropes, polymer chains can slide past but not through each other. Tube models of polymer dynamics and rheology are based on the idea that entanglements confine a chain to small fluctuations around a primitive path that follows the coarse-grained chain contour. Here we provide a microscopic foundation for these highly successful phenomenological models. We analyze the topological state of polymeric liquids in terms of primitive paths and obtain parameter-free, quantitative predictions for the plateau modulus, which agree with experiment for all major classes of synthetic polymers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ralf Everaers
- Max-Planck-Institut für Polymerforschung, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany.
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Michalke W, Lang M, Kreitmeier S, Göritz D. Comparison of topological properties between end-linked and statistically cross-linked polymer networks. J Chem Phys 2002. [DOI: 10.1063/1.1503304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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