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Conformations in Polymers

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Fundamental Polymer Science

Part of the book series: Graduate Texts in Physics ((GTP))

Abstract

A polymer molecule can take great many different conformations due to the degree of freedom for torsion about the sigma bonds. A polymer molecule in solution, in the molten state, and also in the glassy, amorphous state can be categorized as a random coil. A particular state is the theta state, also referred to as the unperturbed state, which is characterized by the absence of long-range interactions. Such a molecule behaves like a ghost or a phantom. The molecules in polymer solutions at the theta temperature as well as in melts and rubbers show such conformations. Models are presented which describe the global dimensions of phantom chains. Polymer chains in crystals adopt a preferred conformation, a conformation of the lowest possible torsional energy. Proteins and polypeptides show a multitude of conformations including α-helix, β-structure, β-turns, and the complex (but regular) structure of globular proteins. Linear, crystalline polysaccharides such as cellulose and chitin show a very high Young’s modulus along the chain axis (>100 GPa), because the conformation in the crystalline state is extended, partly due to intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonding. The conformational states of polyelectrolytes (namely polymers that contain ionic species attached to the backbone chain) are treated in the final section.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fibre and Polymer Technology School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

    Ulf W. Gedde & Mikael S. Hedenqvist

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  1. Ulf W. Gedde
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  2. Mikael S. Hedenqvist
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Gedde, U.W., Hedenqvist, M.S. (2019). Conformations in Polymers. In: Fundamental Polymer Science. Graduate Texts in Physics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29794-7_2

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