Network Formation and Mechanical Properties of Telechelic Associating Polymers with Fixed Junction Multiplicity

A statistical-mechanical theory of thermoreversible gelation which is formed by monodisperse telechelic associating polymers with junction multiplicity of three is developed. In the present theory, the effect of loop formation is considered. Using the theory, the properties of the system are obtained, such as the state of association of polymers, the sol-gel transition line, and the number concentration of elastically effective chains. In addition, a Monte Carlo simulation of a bead-spring model of monodisperse telechelic associating polymers is performed. The simulation results are in good agreement with the present theoretical results. Furthermore, the shear modulus is calculated by an application of phantom network theory and compared with the experimental data. The theoretical results agree well with the experimental results. It is shown that the loop formation occurs especially in dilute regime and causes the decrease of the modulus in the regime.