| Abstract: | A large number of specially prepared model networks with different types of network defects have been produced since de Gennes proposed the reptation motion for linear chains. The viscoelastic properties of these model networks show clearly that branched chains and dangling chains are the cause of the gradual and extremely slow relaxations in lightly crosslinked networks. These experimental results have been followed by theoretical developments that point towards a complete molecular theory for the non-equilibrium properties of lightly crosslinked networks. It is proposed that the presence of dangling chains in endlinked networks may be revealed by measurements of the viscoelastic properties of such networks near the transition zone. |
