Viscoelasticity and dynamics of entangled polymers

Abstract

This article gives a review of the entanglement dynamics of flexible polymer chains from theoretical and experimental points of view. The global motion of the entangled chains determines viscoelastic, dielectric, and diffusion properties in long time scales. The current tube models for this motion, incorporating the concepts of reptation, contour length fluctuation, arm retraction, constraint release, and tube dilation, are summarized. A summary is also made for extensive data for these properties. The model predictions are compared with those data, and the validity and limitation of the models are discussed. In particular, the models are critically examined for detailed dynamic features revealed from comparison of the viscoelastic and dielectric data (e.g. coherence in the submolecule motion), and the theoretical, as well as experimental, challenges remaining for future work are explained.