Effect of Highly Crosslinked Domains on the Dimensions of Network Polymers

The effect of spatial inhomogeneity on the dimensions of network polymers is investigated by using model networks containing highly crosslinked domains. It is found that the dimensions of network architecture consisting of densely crosslinked domains connected by long chains are larger than those of loosely crosslinked domains connected by short chains, given the cycle rank is the same. The cases with the domains connected by the domains are also investigated. In all cases, the dimensions are larger than the corresponding randomly crosslinked homogeneous networks. This is because the loosely crosslinked regions dominate the dimensions of network polymers. The master curve relationship found for the statistical networks is applicable also for the present types of spatial inhomogeneous network polymers when the cycle rank is increased to make the network well-developed in a homologous series of networks.