Direct observation of nonaffine tube deformation in strained polymer networks
W. Pyckhout-Hintzen, S. Westermann, A. Wischnewski, M. Monkenbusch, D. Richter, E. Straube, B. Farago, and P. Lindner
Accepted
We present a one-to-one comparison of polymer segmental fluctuations, as measured by small angle neutron scattering (SANS) in a network under deformation with those obtained by neutron spin echo (NSE) spectroscopy. This allows an independent proof of the strain dependence of the chain entanglement length. The experimentally observed non-affine square-root dependence of the tube channel on strain is in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions and permits to exclude an often invoked non-deformed as well as affinely deformed tube. \vskip0.5cm