Development of minimal models of the elastic properties of flexible and stiff polymer networks with permanent and thermoreversible cross-links

We review the elasticity of flexible and stiff polymer networks with permanent cross-links and synthesize these results into a unifying polymer chain network model. This framework is then used to address how the network elasticity becomes modified when the network cross-linking is thermoreversible in nature, changes in the stability of the network with deformation, and the effect of a variable rate of network deformation on the non-linear elastic response. Comparisons are made between this class of simplified network models with elasticity measurements performed on flexible chain and stiff fiber networks, both with permanent and associative cross-links. Although these network models are highly idealized, they are apparently able to capture many aspects of the elastic properties of diverse real networks.