Comparison among multi-chain models for entangled polymer dynamics

Abstract

Although lots of coarse-grained models have been proposed to trace the long-term behaviors of entangled polymers, compatibility among the different models has not been frequently discussed. In this study, some dynamical and static quantities, such as diffusion, relaxation modulus, chain dimension, and entanglement density, were examined for the multi-chain slip-link model (primitive chain network model) and the multi-chain slip-spring model, and the results were compared with those reported for the standard bead-spring model. For the diffusion, three models are compatible with scale-conversion parameters for units of length, time and bead (segment) number (or the molecular weight). The relaxation modulus is also compatible given that the model dependence can be accommodated by the entanglement density and the additional scale-conversion for the unit of modulus. The chain dimension is reasonably coincident with small deviations due to the weak non-Gaussianity of the models. Apart from these plausible compatibilities, significant discrepancies have been found for the inter-chain cross-correlations in the relaxation modulus.