Direct observation of nonaffine tube deformation in strained polymer networks

Phys Rev Lett. 2013 May 10;110(19):196002. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.196002. Epub 2013 May 10.

Abstract

We present a one-to-one comparison of polymer segmental fluctuations as measured by small angle neutron scattering in a network under deformation with those obtained by neutron spin echo spectroscopy. This allows an independent proof of the strain dependence of the chain entanglement length. The experimentally observed nonaffine square-root dependence of the tube channel on strain is in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions and permits us to exclude an often invoked nondeformed as well as affinely deformed tube.