| Abstract: | The mean‐field theory of Flory–Stockmayer for randomly branched polymers in the regime of strong chain overlap is extended to a calculation of MZ via the recursive method of Miller and Macosko. The formalism includes condensation polymers, copolymers, chain stoppers, bifunctional diluents to control the chain length between branch points, multiple branching agents, and arbitrary stoichiometries. MZ closely approximates the largest branched polymer in the system and is therefore a key parameter describing static scaling behavior near the gel point. Nonuniversal static scaling of MZ is illustrated with examples from the literature. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2019 , 57, 1415–1422 |
