Elastic behavior of non-Gaussian polymethylene chains

In this paper, elastic behaviors of non-Gaussian polymethylene (PM) chains with chain length N=100 are investigated by rotational isomeric state model. Here the tetrahedral lattice of PM chain and the non-local interaction of Sutherland potential are adopted. In the metropolis movement of PM chain, a four-bond movement model is used. The average energy and average Helmholtz free energy with various elongation ratios λ are calculated by Monte Carlo simulation method. The average energy increases with elongation ratio λ and the average Helmholtz free energy decreases with elongation ratio λ. The elastic force f and the energy contribution to elastic force f_u can be obtained from f=∂〈A〉/∂r and f=∂〈U〉/∂r. We find that the elastic force f increases with elongation ratio λ and the energy contribution f_u decreases with elongation ratio λ, and f_u is less than zero. The ratio f_u/f is close to −0.21 for λ?1.25, and −0.04 to −0.35 for λ>1.25 at T=364 K. In our calculation, the rubber elasticity may be discussed in terms of the chemical structure of polymer chains.