Reptation
Movement of entangled polymer chains / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A peculiarity of thermal motion of very long linear macromolecules in entangled polymer melts or concentrated polymer solutions is reptation.[1] Derived from the word reptile, reptation suggests the movement of entangled polymer chains as being analogous to snakes slithering through one another.[2] Pierre-Gilles de Gennes introduced (and named) the concept of reptation into polymer physics in 1971 to explain the dependence of the mobility of a macromolecule on its length. Reptation is used as a mechanism to explain viscous flow in an amorphous polymer.[3][4] Sir Sam Edwards and Masao Doi later refined reptation theory.[5][6] Similar phenomena also occur in proteins.[7]
Two closely related concepts are reptons and entanglement. A repton is a mobile point residing in the cells of a lattice, connected by bonds.[8][9] Entanglement means the topological restriction of molecular motion by other chains.[10]