Exploring the Effect of Chain Stiffness on the Amorphous Topology of Semicrystalline Polymers

While there are many methods to measure and quantify the structure of the crystalline phase of semicrystalline polymers, our toolbox for quantifying the topology of the amorphous phase is far smaller. Statistical models exist for predicting the topology and have shown good correlation with mechanical properties and some correlation with charge carrier transport in semiconducting polymers, [1] but they rely on assumptions that are not necessarily universal across all classes of semicrystalline polymers. Recently, we presented a method and theoretical framework for quantifying stress transmitters, tie molecules and trapped entanglements, in semicrystalline polymers, which showed good correlation with the statistical models for a system of flexible polymers. [2] Here, we examine the effect of the assumptions of the statistical models and our theoretical framework as they apply to both flexible commodity polymers and semiflexible semiconducting polymers.