0000000000740079
AUTHOR
Michael Monkenbusch
A comparison of neutron scattering studies and computer simulations of polymer melts
Abstract Neutron scattering and computer simulations are powerful tools for studying structural and dynamical properties of condensed matter systems in general and of polymer melts in particular. When neutron scattering studies and quantitative atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of the same material are combined, synergy between the methods can result in exciting new insights into polymer melts not obtainable from either method separately. We present here an overview of our recent efforts to combine neutron scattering and atomistic simulations in the study of melt dynamics of polyethylene and polybutadiene. Looking at polymer segmental motion on a picosecond time scale, we show how at…
Molecular Dynamics of a 1,4-Polybutadiene Melt. Comparison of Experiment and Simulation
We have made detailed comparison of the local and chain dynamics of a melt of 1,4-polybutadiene (PBD) as determined from experiment and molecular dynamics simulation at 353 K. The PBD was found to have a random microstructure consisting of 40% cis, 50% trans, and 10% 1,2-vinyl units with a number-average degree of polymerization 〈Xn〉 = 25.4. Local (conformational) dynamics were studied via measurements of the 13C NMR spin−lattice relaxation time T1 and the nuclear Overhauser enhancement (NOE) at a proton resonance of 300 MHz for 12 distinguishable nuclei. Chain dynamics were studied on time scales up to 22 ns via neutron spin−echo (NSE) spectroscopy with momentum transfers ranging from q = …