Can the Branching Exponent Reliably Relate the Branching Indexes?

Abstract

Randomly branched Gaussian chains, including regular and random stars, were modeled. The chains were generated by repeated random movement of the end-point in a cubic grid. The radius-of-gyration-and viscosity-volume branching indexes, g and g 0 , were calculated for randomly branched molecules and compared with the data taken from the literature. The dependence of g 0 on g, constructed from our data as well as from those by Kurata and Fukatsu, appears linear. The experimental data taken from the literature do not contradict this finding. On the other hand, the values of the branching exponent e are highly scattered and a reliable average cannot be found. This findings support the value of the branching exponent of e ¼ 1, relating g and g 0 , proposed also by other authors.