Critical Properties for Gelation: A Kinetic Approach

Abstract

The critical behavior of the gelation of polymers is studied as a kinetic process in which only surface interactions between polymers are assumed. It is found that gelation occurs when the exponent $\omega$, which characterizes the effective surface area, is greater than ½, and that the exponent $\tau$, which characterizes the size distribution at the gel point, is related to $\omega$ by $\tau =\omega +\frac{3}{2}$.