The gigantic size of polymer molecules makes them "viscoelastic": their behavior changes depending on how fast and for how long the material is used. This book describes the latest discoveries in the field from a fundamental molecular perspective, in order to guide the development of better and new applications for soft materials.

... The result is a very readable presentation of viscoelastic behavior with an emphasis on the phenomenology and an understanding of its molecular basis.

Autorentext
C.M. Roland is head of the Polymer Physics Section of the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington DC. After a PhD at Pennsylvania State Unversity, he worked as a researcher at The Firestone Tire & Rubber Co before joining the Naval Research Laboratory in 1986. He has won numerous for his research, including and has served in Editorial and Advisory capacities on several journals. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining (UK).

Klappentext

The enormous size of polymer molecules causes their molecular motions to span a broad range of length scales and give rise to viscoelastic behavior. This rate-dependence of the properties is a predominant characteristic of soft materials (rubbers, biopolymers, lubricants, adhesives, etc.). Improving the performance and developing new applications for soft materials require an understanding of the basic principles of how molecular motions underlie physical properties. This text is intended to provide grounding in fundamental aspects of the dynamic behavior of rubbery materials, adopting a molecular perspective in its treatment to emphasize how microscopic processes are connected to the observed macroscopic behavior. The latest discoveries and advances in the science and technology of rubbery materials are described and critically analyzed.

Inhalt

1. Introduction; 2. Cooperative Local Dynamics - The Glass Transition Zone; 3. Chain Dynamics; 4. Networks; 5. Constitutive Modeling, Nonlinear Behavior and the Stress Optic Law; 6. Reduced Variables and Characteristic Relaxation Times; 7. Blends; 8. Liquid Crystalline Materials; 9. Bioelastomers; 10. Confinements Effects on Polymer Dynamics