Yuichi Masubuchi

Nagoya University | Meidai · Department of Materials Physics

It has been established that entangled polymer dynamics can be reasonably described by single chain models such as tube and slip-link models. Although the entanglement effect is a result of hard-core interaction between chains, linkage between the single chain models and the real multi-chain system has not been established yet. In this study, we pr...

A new model for Brownian dynamics simulations of entangled polymeric liquids is proposed here. Chains are coarse grained at the level of segments between consecutive entanglements; hence, the system is in fact a network of primitive chains. The model incorporates not only the ``individual'' mechanisms of reptation and tube length fluctuation, but a...

To optimize automation for polymer processing, attempts have been made to simulate the flow of entangled polymers. In industry, fluid dynamics simulations with phenomenological constitutive equations have been practically established. However, to account for molecular characteristics, a method to obtain the constitutive relationship from the molecu...

The relationship between the plateau modulus (G_0) and the persistence length (L_p) of entangled semiflexible polymers is still uncertain. Some previous theoretical models have predicted that G_0 decreases with increasing L_p, while experiments indicated the opposite. In this study, we extend the primitive chain network (PCN) model to incorporate b...

Recently, cellulose and other biomass nanofibers (NFs) have been increasingly utilized in the design of sustainable materials for environmental, biomedical, and other applications. However, the past literature lacks a comparison of the macromolecular and nanofibrous states of biopolymers in various materials, and the advantages and limitations of u...

Based on a recent simulation study [Masubuchi et al., Macromolecules, 56, 9359 (2023)], the cycle rank plays a significant role in determining the fracture characteristics of network polymers. However, the study only considered energy-minimized networks without the effects of thermal agitation. We conducted Brownian dynamics simulations at various...

Despite many efforts, the fracture of network polymers under extension is yet to be elucidated. This study investigated the effect of strand molecular weight on the fracture characteristics of the networks made from star-branched prepolymers with various node functionalities $3 \le f \le 8$ and conversion ratios $0.6 \le {\phi}_c \le 0.95$ via mole...

Despite many attempts, the relationship between the fracture and structure of polymer networks is yet to be clarified. For this problem, a recent study on phantom chain simulations [Y. Masubuchi et al., Macromolecules, 2023, 56, 9359-9367.] has demonstrated that the fracture characteristics obtained for polymer networks with various node functional...

Although the reverse non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (RNEMD) simulation method has been widely employed, the range of applicability is yet to be discussed. In this study, for the first time, we systematically examine the method against an unentangled melt of the Kremer-Grest type chain. The simulation results indicate that as the shear rate incr...

Despite many attempts, the relation between fracture and structure of polymer networks is yet to be clarified. For this problem, a recent study for phantom chain simulations [Macromolecules, 56, 9359 (2023)] has demonstrated that the fracture characteristics obtained for polymer networks with various node functionalities and conversion ratios lie o...

A few experiments have reported that the time development of shear stress under fast-startup shear deformations exhibits double peaks before reaching a steady state for bimodal blends of entangled linear polymers under specific conditions. To understand this phenomenon, multi-chain slip-link simulations, based on the primitive chain network model,...

We investigated the effect of surface treatment for iron particles in the magnetorheological fluids (MRFs) on rheological properties. Silane coupling treatment with an excess amount of dodecyltrimethoxysilane (DTMS) was conducted for iron particles. MRFs were prepared by dispersing iron particles with and without the silane coupling treatment. MRFs...

Anisotropic shear relaxation is an interesting but rarely discussed issue in polymer dynamics under confinement. According to the earlier study of bead spring simulations for an unentangled polymer melt confined between two flat plates, the shear relaxation modulus taken perpendicular to the interface is accelerated by decreasing the distance betwe...

Rubber elastic theory describes the relationship between the microscopic chain structure and macroscopic mechanical properties of soft network polymers, such as elastomers and gels. When the deformation exceeds a certain threshold, the formation of extended chains induces hardening and failure of the materials, which has been tackled by experiments...

By phantom chain simulations, it has been recently discovered that the fracture characteristics of star polymer networks with different node functionalities and conversion ratios can be described by the cycle rank of the networks [Masubuchi et al., Macromolecules, 56, 9359–9367 (2023)]. However, due to the employed simplifications and idealizations...

We develop a novel Moving Particle Simulation (MPS) method to reproduce the motion of fibers floating in sheared liquids accurately. In conventional MPS schemes, if a fiber suspended in a liquid is represented by a one‐dimensional array of MPS particles, it is entirely aligned to the flow direction due to the lack of shear stress difference between...

This report briefly describes the articles published in the 50th volume of the Nihon Reoroji Gakkaishi (the Journal of the Society of Rheology, Japan) in 2022. The statistics are that the total number of articles is 54, and the ratio of papers in English is 0.55. The highlight is the invited review articles to the special issue commemorating the 50...

In the multi-chain slip-spring, the dynamics of Rouse chains connected by virtual springs called slip-springs that hop along the chain are considered. Although this approach has been proven to reproduce entangled polymer dynamics efficiently, the settings of the artificially introduced slip-springs should be carefully examined. In this study, we di...

This study presents a coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation model to investigate the process of oxidative aging in polymers. The chemical aging effect is attributed to the auto-oxidation mechanism, which is initiated by radicals, leading to the chain scission and crosslinking of polymer chains. In this study, we integrate a thermal oxidation...

The influence of node functionality (f) on the fracture of polymer networks remains unclear. While many studies have focused on multi-functional nodes with f>4, recent research suggests that networks with f=3 exhibit superior fracture properties compared to those with f=4. To clarify this discrepancy, we conducted phantom chain simulations for star...

Rod-shaped particles embedded in certain matrices have been reported to exhibit an increase in their center of mass diffusivity upon increasing the matrix density. This increase has been considered to be caused by a kinetic constraint in analogy with tube models. We investigate a mobile rodlike particle in a sea of immobile point obstacles using a...

In the framework of the tube model, the survival fraction of dilated tube, φʹ(t), is essential since the relaxation of the entire system is described according to this quantity. However, a method to define it in multi-chain simulations has yet to be considered. In this study, primitive chain network simulations were performed, and a few structural...

Diffusivity in some soft matter and biological systems changes with time, called the fluctuating diffusivity. In this work, we propose a novel origin for fluctuating diffusivity based on stochastic simulations of binary gas mixtures. In this system, the fraction of one component is significantly small, and the mass of the minor component molecule i...

We develop a novel Moving Particle Simulation (MPS) method to accurately reproduce the motion of fibers floating in sheared liquids. In conventional MPS schemes, if a fiber suspended in a liquid is represented by a one-dimensional array of MPS particles, it is entirely aligned to the flow direction due to the lack of shear stress difference between...

Rod-shaped particles embedded in certain matrices have been reported to exhibit an increase in their center of mass diffusivity upon increasing the matrix density. This increase has been considered to be caused by a kinetic constraint in analogy with tube models. Here, we investigate a mobile rod-like particle in a three-dimensional sea of immobile...

In fast elongational flows, linear polymer melts exhibit a monotonic decrease of the viscosity with increasing strain rate, even beyond the contraction rate of the polymer defined by the Rouse time. We consider two possible explanations of this phenomenon: (a) the reduction of monomeric friction and (b) the reduction of the tube diameter with incre...

We derive the stress tensor of a rigid dumbbell by using the virtual work method. In the virtual work method, we virtually apply a small deformation to the system, and relate the change of the energy to the work done by the stress tensor. A rigid dumbbell consists of two particles connected by a rigid bond of which length is constant (the rigid con...

Although chemistry dependence in the non-linear rheology of polymers has been rather established for uniaxial elongations, it has not been frequently discussed for fast shear. In this study, to see the effect of orientation-dependent monomeric friction on the shear rheology, we conducted primitive chain network simulations for a few poly(propylene...

In this report, the 49th volume published last year (2021) is reviewed. The statistics show that the total number of published papers and the ratio of English manuscripts are 37 and 0.57, which are similar to the average of past volumes. The contents distribute among various fields of rheology. However, the distribution is not uniform and different...

In this study, we examined the viscoelastic properties of a series of comb-shaped ring (RC) polystyrene samples with different branch chain lengths, i.e., the molecular weights of the ring backbone Mbb (≃ 4Me where Me is the entanglement molecular weight) and branch chains Mbr (≃ Me, 2Me, and 4Me). Even for the RC sample with the shortest branch ch...

Some components in colloidal suspensions, biological systems, active matters, and polymeric materials exhibit time-dependent diffusivity, called the fluctuating diffusivity. The fluctuating diffusivity has been attributed to two origins: a temporarily and/or spatially heterogeneous environment, or a fluctuation of a conformation of a component. In...

We studied the effect of arm length contrast of prepolymers on the mechanical properties of tetra-branched networks via Brownian dynamics simulations. We employed a bead-spring model without the excluded volume interactions, and we did not consider the solvent explicitly. Each examined 4-arm star branch prepolymer has uneven arm lengths to attain t...

We derive the stress tensor of a rigid dumbbell by using the virtual work method. In the virtual work method, we virtually apply a small deformation to the system, and relate the change of the energy to the work done by the stress tensor. A rigid dumbbell consists of two particles connected by a rigid bond of which length is constant (the rigid con...

A concentration gradient is induced by a temperature gradient for some binary mixtures of fluids due to the mass transfer. This phenomenon is the so-called thermodiffision or the Ludwig-Soret effect being characterized by the mass and heat cross transport coefficient L1q. Naively, we expect that L1q is controlled by the chemical potential. Then the...

Nonlinear shear and elongational rheology of entangled poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) melts having different molecular weights with relatively narrow molecular weight distribution are examined. In shear measurements, the PPCs exhibit a typical shear thinning behavior with stress overshoot at high shear rates. In the shear rate dependence of the st...

It has been established that the elongational rheology of polymers depends on their chemistry. However, the analysis of experimental data has been reported for only a few polymers. In this study, we analyzed the elongational viscosity of poly (propylene carbonate) (PPC) melts in terms of monomeric friction via primitive chain network simulations. B...

Although the entanglement network among polymers has been widely investigated, the spatial distribution of entanglement nodes has been rarely discussed. In this study, we obtained the radial distribution functions (RDFs) for the entanglement nodes from the snapshots of multi-chain slip-link simulations. The model employed in this study is the primi...

The linear viscoelastic properties of poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) melts having different molecular weights and narrow molecular weight distributions were studied. Some linear viscoelasticity parameters, including the plateau modulus and zero shear viscosity of PPC, were evaluated. The entanglement molecular weight of PPC was estimated to be 5.9...

We synthesized model polyethylene (PE) samples with nearly monodispersed molecular weight distribution and different fractions of short-chain branches to investigate the influences of the branch structure on the rheological properties. The activation energy of the flow process showed linear relations with the weight fractions of comonomer and the s...

Ianniruberto and Marrucci [Macromolecules, 46, 267-275, 2013] developed a theory whereby entangled branched polymers behave like linear ones in fast elongational flows. In order to test such prediction, Huang et al [Macromolecules, 49, 6694-6699, 2016] performed elongational measurements on star polymer melts, indeed revealing that, in fast flows,...

Primitive chain network simulations for randomly cross-linked slip-link networks were performed. For the percolated networks, the stress-strain relationship was compared to the theories by Ball et al. [Polymer, 22, 1010 (1981)] and Rubinstein and Panyukov [Macromolecules, 35, 6670 (2002)]. The simulation results are reasonably reproduced by both th...

In some recent experiments on entangled polymers of stress growth in the startup of fast shear flows, an undershoot in the shear stress is observed following the overshoot, i.e., before approaching the steady state. Whereas tumbling of the entangled chain was proposed to be at its origin, here, we investigate another possible cause for the stress u...

Despite lots of attempts on the bridging between full-atomistic and coarse-grained models for polymers, a practical methodology has not been established yet. One of the problems is computation costs for the determination of spatial and temporal conversion parameters, which are ideally obtained for the long chain limit. In this study, we propose a p...

Ianniruberto and Marrucci developed a theory whereby entangled branched polymers behave like linear ones in fast elongational flows. In order to test such prediction, Huang et al. performed elongational measurements on star polymer melts, indeed revealing that, in fast flows, the elongational viscosity is insensitive to the molecular structure, pro...

DNA-chitosan (DNA-CS) hydrogels were prepared on the basis of interpolyelectrolyte complexes (IPEC) in a co-assembled regime by in situ charging of the polysaccharide in a DNA solution. In contrast to poorly controlled coacervates formed upon mixing of DNA and CS solutions, stable DNA-CS IPEC hydrogels are formed at near-stoichiometric ratios of DN...

We calculate the plateau moduli of several single-chain slip-link and slip-spring models for entangled polymers. In these models, the entanglement effects are phenomenologically modeled by introducing topological constraints such as slip-links and slip-springs. The average number of segments between two neighboring slip-links or slip-springs, $N_{0...

In some recent experiments on entangled polymers of stress growth in startup of fast shear flows an undershoot in the shear stress is observed following the overshoot, i.e., before approaching the steady state. Whereas tumbling of the entangled chain was proposed to be at its origin, here we investigate another possible cause for the stress undersh...

Primitive chain network simulations for randomly cross-linked slip-link networks were performed. For the percolated networks, the stress-strain relationship was compared to the theories by Ball et al. [Polymer, 22, 1010 (1981)] and Rubinstein and Panyukov [Macromolecules, 35, 6670 (2002)]. The simulation results were reasonably reproduced by both t...

Although it has been established that the multi-chain slip-spring (MCSS) model can reproduce entangled polymer dynamics, the effects of model parameters have not been fully elucidated yet. In this study, we systematically investigated the effects of slip-spring density. For the diffusion and the linear viscoelasticity, the simulation results exhibi...

The complicated structure-property relationships of materials have recently been described using a methodology of data science that is recognized as the fourth paradigm in materials science. In network polymers or elastomers, the manner of connection of the polymer chains among the crosslinking points has a significant effect on the material proper...

In some literature, entanglement molecular weight Me is discussed as a material property that characterizes magnitudes of entanglement for polymeric liquids. However, Me was introduced as a model parameter for theories that explain the plateau modulus, and the value is model dependent. A value of Me may induce misleading analysis if it is presented...

A small tagged particle immersed in a fluid exhibits Brownian motion and diffuses on a long timescale. Meanwhile, on a short timescale, the dynamics of the tagged particle cannot be simply described by the usual generalized Langevin equation with Gaussian noise, since the number of collisions between the tagged particle and fluid particles is rathe...

It is not straightforward to prepare a fiber reinforced composite in which reinforcing fibers are dispersed uniformly. The nonuniform distribution of the reinforcing fibers produces nonuniform viscosity of the composite and thus drives the breakup of the filament upon extension. However, this breakup is suppressed when the fiber length is large. By...

The non-linear viscoelastic response under interrupted shear flows is one of the interesting characteristics of entangled polymers. In particular, the stress overshoot in the resumed shear has been discussed concerning the recovery of the entanglement network in some studies. In this study, we performed multi-chain slip-link simulations to observe...

It is not straightforward to prepare a fiber reinforced composite in which reinforcing fibers are dispersed uniformly. The nonuniform distribution of the reinforcing fibers produces nonuniform viscosity of the composite and thus drives the breakup of the filament upon extension. However, this breakup is suppressed when the fiber length is large. By...

A small tagged particle immersed in a fluid exhibits the Brownian motion and diffuses at the long-time scale. Meanwhile, at the short-time scale, the dynamics of the tagged particle cannot be simply described by the usual generalized Langevin equation with the Gaussian noise, since the number of collisions between the tagged particle and fluid part...

For the entangled polymer dynamics, in addition to reptation and contour length fluctuation (CLF), constraint release (CR) has been widely accepted as an essential relaxation mechanism. However, although conceptually established, the nature of CR has not been fully clarified yet. In this study, entangled polymer dynamics were observed via primitive...

Using the primitive chain network model, we have simulated the startup of steady planar elongation of a moderately entangled polymer melt at several elongation rates. The time dependence of the first normal stress growth coefficient, η⁺p1, was similar to that under startup uniaxial elongation, η⁺u, and exhibited significant strain hardening when th...

Branchpoint Withdrawal (BPW) has been recognized as one of the important molecular mechanisms for the description of the dynamics of entangled branched polymers under fast flows. However, the relation to the other known molecular mechanisms has not been fully elucidated yet. In this study we performed primitive chain network (i.e., multi-chain slip...

One can call a simulation as “rheology simulation” if the simulation can deal with the calculation of the mechanical response of materials against flows and deformations. There exist two significant branches for such rheology simulation. In the industry, a widely used direction is the phenomenological approach, where the constitutive equation gives...

The multi-chain slip-spring (MCSS) model is a coarse-grained molecular model developed for efficient simulations of the dynamics of entangled polymers. In this study, we examined the model for the viscoelasticity of polyisoprene (PI) melts, for which the data are available in the literature. We determined the conversion factor for the molecular wei...

The overdamped (inertialess) dumbbell model is widely utilized to study rheological properties of polymers or other soft matters. In most cases, the effect of inertia is merely neglected because the momentum relaxation is much faster than the bond relaxation. We theoretically analyze the effect of inertia on the linear viscoelasticity of the harmon...

Although the reaction kinetics of network formation of polymers has been extensively investigated, the role of entanglement between polymers has not been fully elucidated yet. In this study, we discuss the effect of entanglement via multi-chain slip-spring simulations, in which Rouse chains are dispersed in space and connected by slip-springs that...

The overdamped (inertialess) dumbbell model is widely utilized to study rheological properties of polymers or other soft matters. In most cases, the effect of inertia is merely neglected because the momentum relaxation is much faster than the bond relaxation. We theoretically analyze the effect of inertia on the linear viscoelasticity of the harmon...

We examined the liquid-solid transition for polyamides (PA) 6, 66, and 610 by the Chambon-Winter method under cooling. The polyamides exhibited the transition via the critical gel, for which the critical exponent and the stiffness were consistent with those reported under the isothermal measurements for the other polymers. The DSC measurements show...

Although the tube framework has achieved remarkable success to describe entangled polymer dynamics, the chain motion assumed in tube theories is still a matter of discussion. Recently, Xu et al. [ACS Macro Lett. 2018, 7, 190–195] performed a molecular dynamics simulation for entangled bead-spring chains under a step uniaxial deformation and reporte...

Although the tube models have attained remarkable success, development of a simulation method for entangled branch polymer dynamics is still a challenge. In this study, the multichain slip-spring model has been examined to branch polymers for the first time. In the model, the bead-spring chains are dispersed in the simulation box, and the entanglem...

Nonlinear rheological behavior under uniaxial elongation was examined for unentangled melts of polystyrene (PS27; molecular weight M = 27k) and poly(p-tert-butylstyrene) (PtBS53; M = 53k) having nearly the same number of Kuhn segments per chain (nK = 30 and 35 for PS27 and PtBS53, respectively). For both materials, the steady state elongational vis...