Rheological behavior of branched polymer molecules.
01 January 1983
The high viscosity and long relaxation time of polymers can be attributed to the entanglements of the molecules in these systems. Entanglement manifests itself effectively as surrounding each molecule by a tube in which lateral motion is constrained. Disentanglement occurs by reptation, motion of the molecules along the tube. These ideas are extended here to the development of a theory of the viscoelastic properties of star-shaped branched polymers in concentrated solutions or melts.