A Comprehensive Expression for the Description of Single Chain Scattering Functions as Tool to Interpret Neutron Spin-Echo Data from Reptating Polymer Chains.

This article discusses the development of an analytic dynamic structure factor to describe neutron spin-echo (NSE) spectra of polymers in the reptation regime. The structure factor includes local reptation, Rouse motion, non-Gaussian dynamics, and contour length fluctuations. The new approach improves the matching of experimental data and model predictions, and allows for the extraction of tube diameter and Rouse rate parameters. The article also discusses the scaling of data and the potential applications of this fitting tool in analyzing the dynamics of entangled long chain polymers. [Extracted from the article]