Statistics of « starburst » polymers

P.-G. de Gennes (1) , H. Hervet

1 LPMC - Laboratoire de Physique de la Matière Condensée

We discuss the growth of completely branched polymer, based on tertiary amine branch points conected by flexible linear portions (« spacers ») each of P monomers. The method is a modified version of the Edwards self consistent fields. We find that ideal « starburst » growth (without any residual secondary amine functions) is restricted to a number of generations m ≤ m1 where m1 ≅ 2.88(ln P + 1.5). This corresponds in space to a limiting radius R1 which increases linearly with P. Well below this limit, the polymer radius R(M), plotted as a function of molecular weight M, should increase like M0.2. Above the limit (R > R 1) we expect compact structures (R ∼ M0.33).

Mots clés: polymerisation; polymers; statistics; starburst polymers; completely branched polymer; tertiary amine branch points; flexible linear portions; Edwards self consistent fields; polymer radius; molecular weight

Domaines: Articles anciens

P.-G. de Gennes, H. Hervet. Statistics of « starburst » polymers. Journal de Physique Lettres, 1983, 44 (9), pp.351-360. ⟨10.1051/jphyslet:01983004409035100⟩. ⟨jpa-00232203⟩