Polymer Networks: Structure and Mechanical Properties

For several decades, polymer science has sought to rationalize the mechanical and thermodynamic properties of polymer networks largely within the framework of statistical thermodynamics. Much of this effort has been directed toward the rubbery rather than the glassy state. It is generally assumed that networks possess an av­ erage composition to which average properties may be assigned; from such a continuum view, a powerful analysis of such properties as modulus, swelling, birefringence and thermoelasticity has emerged. In the years following the rise of polymer characterization (the late 40's and early 50's), many scientists began to study ap­ parent relations between the properties of linear polymer molecules and the networks obtainable therefrom. This search was also stimu­ lated by the wide range of applications of polymer networks in com­ mercial elastomers, thermosets and coatings. Frequently, these data were confidently matched with curves obtained from statisti­ cally describable models of networks of ghost chains, uniformly distributed in space. More recently, it has become apparent that polymer chains in networks are not as ideal as assumed in the formulation of statis­ tical models, and there has been a shift in emphasis towards the less than ideal, perturbed and possibly inhomogeneous networks which are more frequently encountered in practice. The continuum approach, however, had to be developed before inhomogeneous systems could be described; the present volume, therefore, contains both views.

Table of Contents:
Chemical and Physical Aspects of the Three Stages in Forming Polymer Networks.- On the Thermostatic Behavior of Elastomers.- Thermoelasticity of Crosslinked Rubber Networks.- The Micromechanics of Elastomer Networks.- The Statistical Mechanics of Rubbers.- The Rupture Work of Crosslinked Polymers.- Intermolecular Forces in Polymers and Liquids.- Glass Points of Polymer Networks.- The Interaction Between Polymeric Structure, Deformation, and Fracture.- Properties of a Highly Crosslinked Elastomer.- Inhomogeneities Induced by Crosslinking in the Course of Crosslinking Copolymerization.- The Swelling of Nonuniformly Crosslinked Polymers in Solvents.- Birefringence Analysis of Inhomogeneous Swelling in Filled Elastomers.- Depolarized Light Scattering from Swollen-Filled Rubber.- Light Scattering as a Tool in the Characterization of Polymer Materials.- Light Scattering by Polymer Networks.- The Stress-Srtrain Behavior of Mechanically Degradable Polymers.- A Constitutive Representation of Inhomogeneous Polymeric Systems.- Molecular Bond Rupture Associated with Inelastic Deformation of Elastomers.- Morphology and Mechanical Behavior of Interpenetrating Polymer Networks.- Synthesis and Properties of Interpenetrating Polymer Networks.- Chemical Effects on the Ultimate Properties of Polymer Networks in the Glassy State.- Author Index.