Polymer melt

A polymer melt is a dense fluid of polymer chains with little or no solvent. For a long flexible chain in a homogeneous melt, other chains screen its long-range excluded volume interactions: distant segments of the chosen chain displace statistically similar segments belonging to its neighbours. On scales above local stiffness, equilibrium chain dimensions are consequently approximately those of an ideal chain, even though monomers still cannot physically overlap. Entanglements can strongly affect dynamics without changing this leading large-scale equilibrium size law. Crystallinity, strong orientational order or unusual topological constraints require separate treatment.