Relaxation Patterns of Nearly Critical Gels

We measure the complex rheological behavior of nearly critical gels and analyze the data by searching for characteristic patterns and abstracting those patterns into a self-consistent model. The sample is a linear, flexible, nearly monodisperse polybutadiene which gets cross-linked on its vinyl side groups. The dynamic mechanical storage and loss moduli of cross-linking polymers change smoothly during the liquid−solid transition, while equilibrium rheological properties (e.g., zero-shear viscosity and equilibrium compliance) diverge. During gelation, the relaxation occurs in a distinct pattern which can be described in a quantitative way with a minimum number of parameters. The pattern can be understood as a combination of the BSW spectrum (representing the precursor relaxation behavior) and the self-similar Chambon−Winter gel spectrum (modeling the terminal relaxation due to growing clusters). The spectrum is cut off at the material's longest relaxation time, λ max . Our model parameters, λ max and G e (equilibrium modulus), exhibit characteristic scaling behavior with respect to the distance from the gel point, | p − p c |. The relaxation exponent, n, in the terminal zone is a function of the extent of reaction. Hence, dynamic scaling (requires constant n values) is not valid for our system. The proposed model passes the self-consistency test by predicting the mechanical behavior (at different frequencies) as a function of the extent of reaction and other rheological observations during the sol−gel transition.