2025 AIChE Annual Meeting

(534a) Identifying the Roles and Regimes of Entanglements in Triblock Thermoplastic Elastomers

Author

Joshua Mysona - Presenter, University of Chicago
Triblock elastomer networks are conventionally thought of being governed by the relative fractions of bridges and loops between different domains. While trapped entanglements exist, they are frequently not considered either in simulation or during the design process. By using a novel strategy of altering topology between crosslinks via double rebridging Monte Carlo moves combined with molecular dynamics we examine the frequency and effect of trapped entanglements on the mechanical response both above and below the entanglement molecular weight. We find that above the entanglement molecular weight, the triblock network topology becomes entirely dominated by trapped entanglements, and the effect of bridges and loops are each greatly diminished.