(Chapter Headings) Foreword by / P.G. de Gennes |
Authors Preface |
Introduction: Physics in the World of Giant Molecules |
What Does a Polymer Molecule Look Like? What Kinds of Polymer Substances are There? Polymers in Nature |
TheMathematics of a Simple Polymer Coil |
The Physics of High Elasticity |
The Problem of Excluded Volume |
Coils and Globules. Dynamics of Polymeric Fluids |
The Mathematics of Complicated Polymer Structures: Fractals |
Polymers and the Origin of Life |
How to Make Movies with the Application Polymer Program on the CD ROM / Appendix: |
Suggested Further Reading |
List of Figures |
Flexibility Mechanisms |
A"Portrait"of a Polymer Chain |
Heteropolymers, Branched and Charged Macromolecules. Ring Macromolecules and Topological Effects. How are Polymers Made? What Kinds of Polymer Substances are There?"Traditional"States of Matter and Polymers. Possible States of Polymer Substances |
Plastics |
Polymeric Fibres |
Polymeric Liquid Crystals and Superstrong Fibres |
Polymer Solutions |
Polymer Blends and Block-Copolymers |
Ionomers and Associating Polymers |
Polymers in Nature: A Few Words About Water and the Love or Fear of It. Head-and-Tail molecules |
Molecular Biology and Molecular Architecture |
Molecular Machines: Proteins, RNA, and DNA. The Chemical Structure of Proteins, DNA and RNA Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Structures of Biopolymers |
Globular Protein Enzymes |
Tertiary Structuresof Other Biopolymers |
Physics and Biology |
The Mathematics of a Simple Polymer Coil: Mathematics in Physics |
Analogy Between a Polymer Chain and Brownian Motion |
The Size of a Polymer Coil |
Derivation of the"Square Root"Law Persistent Length andKuhn Segment |
The Density of a Polymer Coil and Concentration Ranges of a Polymer Solution The Gaussian Distribution |
The Physics of High Elasticity: Columbus Discovered |
Natural Rubber |
High Elasticity. The Discovery of Vulcanisation |
SyntheticRubber |
High Elasticity and Stretching of an Individual Polymer Chain. Entropy. Entropic Elasticity of a Polymer Chain |
Entropic Elasticity of a Polymer Network |
The Guch-Joule Effect and Thermal Phenomena During the Deformation of Rubber. The Problem of Excluded Volume: Linear Memory and Volume Interactions. Excluded Volume--Formulating the Problem |
The Density of a Coil and Collisions of Monomer Units |
Good and Bad Solvents, and Conditions. The Swelling of a Polymer Coil in a Good Solvent.The Excluded Volume Effect in a Semi-Dilute Solution. The Compatibility of Polymer Blends. Coils and Globules: What is a Coil-Globule Transition. The Free Energy of a Globule |
The Energy of Monomer Interactions. The Entropy Contribution. The Swelling Coefficient The Coil-Globule Transition |
Pre-Transitional Swelling. Experimental Observation of the Coil-Globule Transition. Dynamics of the Coil-Globule Transition |
Some Generalisations |
The Collapse of Polymer Networks |
The Globular State of the DNA Double Helix |
Globular Structure of Proteins and Conformational Transitions in Globular Proteins |
In Vivo, In Vitro, In Virtuo |
Dynamics of Polymeric Fluids: Viscosity. Viscoelasticity |
The Reptation Model The LongestRelaxation Time Young's Modulus of a Network of Effective Crosslinks |
The Tube The Dependence of the Longest Relaxation Time on the Chain Length |
The Viscosity of a Polymer Melt and the Self-Diffusion Coefficient |
Experimental Tests of the Theory of Reptation |
Reptation Theory and the Gel-Electrophoresis of DNA |
The Theory of Reptation and the Gel Effect During Polymerisation |
The Mathematics of Complicated Polymer Structures: Fractals: A Bit More About Maths in Physics: How Does a Physicist Determine the Dimensionality of a Space? Deterministic Fractals, or How to Draw Beautiful Patterns |
Self-Similarity |
(Chapter Headings) Foreword by / P.G. de Gennes |
Authors Preface |
Introduction: Physics in the World of Giant Molecules |
What Does a Polymer Molecule Look Like? What Kinds of Polymer Substances are There? Polymers in Nature |
TheMathematics of a Simple Polymer Coil |
The Physics of High Elasticity |