Article Published In Vol.2 (May-June-2014)

Cyclic Polymer Dynamics

Author : Nadia Boudjellal, Abd-El-Hamid Bensafi, Abdelhak Boussaid and Mabrouk Benhamou

A number of works are dedicated to the investigation of the effects of the excluded volume interactions on the dynamics of cyclic polymers in good solvents using the Yu-Fujita model. Unfortunately, this latter does not satisfy the circularity condition. To overcome this problem, use is made of the Bensafi-Benmouna model which describes quite well their thermodynamic and structural properties in good solvents. This paper deals with the dynamic scattering properties of both cyclic homopolymers and copolymers in good solvents. These properties, such as the relaxation frequencies and the diffusion coefficient, are briefly discussed and the implications of the excluded volume interactions on such properties are emphasized more. Finally, cyclic chains dynamic properties are compared to those of their linear counterparts, in order to comprehend the effects of the cyclization of linear polymers under good solvent conditions.

Keywords: Cyclic polymer, dynamic diffusion, Rouse model, Zimm model, relaxation frequency, diffusion coefficient