Review published on Entangled Polymer Dynamics

Posted in PDO News

A review paper written by Peter in collaboration with colleagues in Crete (Greece), Naples (Italy), and Solvay (France) was published in Journal of Physics Condensed Matter  (November 2015). Here’s the abstract: 

“We briefly review the recent advances in the rheology of entangled polymers and identify emerging research trends and outstanding challenges, especially with respect to branched polymers. Emphasis is placed on the role of well­characterized model systems, as well as the synergy of synthesis­-characterization, rheometry and modeling/simulations. The theoretical framework for understanding the observed linear and nonlinear rheological phenomena is the tube model, which is critically assessed in view of its successes and shortcomings, and alternative approaches are briefly discussed. Finally, intriguing experimental findings and controversial issues that merit consistent explanation, such as shear banding instabilities, multiple stress overshoots in transient simple shear and enhanced steady­state elongational viscosity in polymer solutions, are discussed, and future directions such as branch point dynamics and anisotropic monomeric friction are outlined.”

The review was dedicated to our friend and colleague, Alexei Likhtman .