Progress in Studies of Disentangled Polymers and Composites

Abstract

Macromolecule entanglements are common in polymers. The first part of this review describes their influence on the properties of entangled polymers. Then, methods for reducing the entanglement density of macromolecule chains are discussed. It has been shown that research on partially disentangled polymers has provided a lot of new information about the relationship between the entangled state and properties of polymers. This research concerns, among others, mechanical and thermal properties and the crystallization process. A special disentangled polymer case, ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene, is also discussed. The results of research on polymer composites in which macromolecules were disentangled via processing and composites were produced using already disentangled polymers are presented in particular detail. It has been indicated that such composites and blends of disentangled polymers are promising and will probably be intensively researched in the near future.

Crystallization of Polymers with a Reduced Density of Entanglements

“…The idea of a macromolecule (red) moving inside a virtual tube caused by the entanglements of other macromolecules (blue). The red arrow shows the direction of movement of the macromolecule [23].…”