In recent years, new types of polymer gels have emerged, which have a well-controlled network structure and few topological defects. These so-called near-ideal polymer networks constitute a good model system to revisit the long-standing problem of structure-property relationships in polymer networks, as well as a promising platform for the development of polymer gels with outstanding mechanical properties. In this work, we investigate the relative contributions of network defects (dangling chains and second-order loops) on the stress-stretch response of near-ideal polymer networks using a computational discrete network model. We identify the average chain pre-stretch as a key parameter to capture the effect of network topology on the elastic modulus and maximum extensibility. Proper account of the chain pre-stretch further leads to scaling relations for the elastic properties in terms of topology parameters that differ from classical estimates of rubber elasticity theory. Stress-stretch curves calculated using the discrete network model are also compared to semi-analytical estimates.
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