MOLECULAR VELCRO - DYNAMICS OF A CONSTRAINED CHAIN INTO AN ELASTOMER NETWORK

We discuss the dynamics of the healing process when contact is made between a cross-linked elastomer network and polymers that are end-tethered onto a solid surface. We find that there are generally three stages to the approach to the equilibrium, ''mushroom'' conformation. Entanglements in the network have a major affect on the time scale of the healing process. Our findings share similar trends with adhesion experiments on PI/PS interfaces conducted by Reichert and Brown; their data show and our model predicts a rapid partial recovery of toughness, followed by a very slow (days) route to equilibrium.