Microscopic origin of the terminal relaxation time in polymer nanocomposites: an experimental precedent

By means of rheology and neutron spin echo spectroscopy, both a macroscopic and a microscopic view on the relaxation dynamics of polymers in the presence of non-attractive nanoparticles could be realized. The results enabled us to show a direct correlation between the microscopically observed confinement length and the macroscopically measured dissipation maximum, which corresponds to the terminal relaxation time. Moreover, the impact of nanoparticle presence on the effectiveness of polymer contour length fluctuations and constraint release is discussed.