Branching (polymer chemistry) Branching (polymer chemistry) In polymer chemistry, branching occurs by the replacement of a substituent, e.g., a hydrogen atom, on a monomer subunit, by another covalently bonded chain of that polymer; or, in the case of a graft copolymer, by a chain of another type. Branched polymers have more compact and symmetrical molecular conformations, and exhibit intra-heterogeneous dynamical behavior with respect to the unbranched polymers. In crosslinking rubber by vulcanization, short sulfur branches link polyisoprene chains (or a synthetic variant) into a multiply branched thermosetting elastomer. Rubber can also be so completely vulcanized that it becomes a rigid solid, so hard
Rubber toughening measure the separate contributions. Shear yielding is a constant volume process and cannot be measured with tensile dilatometry. Voiding can be seen with optical microscopy, however one of two methods, using polarized light or low angle light scattering are necessary to observe the connection between cavitation and shear bands. In order to gauge the toughening effects of a dispersed secondary phase, it is important to understand the relevant characteristics of the continuous polymer phase. The mechanical failure characteristics of the pure polymeric continuous phase will strongly influence how rubber toughened polymer failure occurs. When a polymer usually fails due to