STATISTICAL PROPERTIES OF RANDOM CROSS-LINKED RUBBERS

Starting from equilibrated melts of linear polymers chains, we investigate the static properties of randomly cross-linked polymer networks. Distributions of strand length, dangling ends, and self-crosslinks are investigated. We find that the distributions are well described by simple exponentials. We also study systems where the chain ends are cross-linked. Here also the distributions are very well described by a simple exponential, however, with a strongly enhanced probability for short and long strands between crosslinks. © 1990, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.