Simulation study of the network structure and viscoelasticity of slide-ring gel and thread-like micelle

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A model of slid-ring gel (a gel in which polymer chains can slide along themselves at the cross links) is proposed and nonlinear elastic response is calculated. The results show that the stress is lower than that of chemical gels especially for anisotropic deformations (such as uniaxial elongation) due to the pulley effect. If the translational entropy of the ring molecules remaining on the polymer chains is taken into account, the stress approaches to that of chemical gel.It is now well known that stiff polymers entangle more easily than flexible polymers, and have thinner tube diameter. We have studied blends of stiff and flexible chains by molecular dynamics and primitive path analysis, and found that the tube diameters of both types of chains are virtually identical in the blend. A blending rule for the tube diameter is proposed.