Atomistic framework for glassy polymer viscoelasticity across twenty frequency decades

Read full text
Authors: Ankit Singh, Vinay Vaibhav, Caterina Czibula, Astrid Macher, Petra Christöfl, Karin Bartl, Gregor Trimmel, Timothy W. Sirk, Alessio Zaccone
Cited by: 0

Abstract

Glassy polymers are central to engineering applications, yet their viscoelastic response over broad frequency and temperature ranges remains difficult to characterize. We extend non-affine deformation theory by incorporating a time-dependent memory kernel within the generalized Langevin equation for atomistic non-affine motions, yielding frequency-dependent mechanical response. Applied to poly(methyl methacrylate), the method captures the shear modulus and relaxation spectrum over more than twenty decades of frequency, from hundreds of terahertz to the millihertz regime, thus bridging polymer mechanics from ordinary to extreme scales. Our predictions show quantitative consistency with independent estimates from oscillatory-shear molecular dynamics, Brillouin scattering, ultrasonic spectroscopy, split-Hopkinson testing, and dynamic mechanical analysis, thereby demonstrating a unified theoretical-computational route for multiscale characterization of polymer glasses.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Material Dynamics and Properties Polymer crystallization and properties Liquid Crystal Research Advancements

Publication details

Journal / source
The Journal of Chemical Physics
Volume
165
Issue
10
Publication date
10 September 2026
Language
EN