The creation and spatial structure of end-linked bimodal polymer networks: a Monte Carlo study

Abstract

The creation and spatial structure of end-linked bimodal polymer networks was investigated by means of the three-dimensional bond-fluctuation model. The portion of long and short chains was varied. The curing process was found to be reaction-controlled within our simulation parameters. The spatial distribution of the cross-linkers in the created networks revealed no large-scale inhomogeneities. Investigations of the pair-correlation functions of the center of mass of the short chains were consistent with the random distribution of the cross-linkers.