Flory e Gauss: un connubio non più strettamente necessario

A statistical mechanics theory of rubber-like elasticity in hydrogels characterized by explicitly non-Gaussian distribution functions (Laplace’s, Cauchy’s, and continuous Poisson’s in the exponential limit) of the end to end distribution is presented. Despite its formal complexity, the outcome of this approach leads to the formulation of reasonably simple models easily comparable with experimental data on polymer networks. In order to identify the most likely end-to-end length distribution in an arbitrary network, a theoretical-experimental approach based on Low Field NMR (LF-NMR) is proposed. Three different hydrogels are considered: agar 1 %, alginate 1 %, and scleroglucan 2 %.