Fig. 4: The proposed remodeling mechanism reproduces all experimental observations.
From: The molecular mechanism of constructive remodeling of a mechanically-loaded polymer
a Experimental (dots) and simulated (lines) correlations between the concentration of polymer-bound T or OOH moieties, [Xpoly], and change in aMw; b Experimental (dots) and simulated (lines) increase in aMw as a function of the number of shearing cycles for the conditions that do not generate polymer-bound T or OOH moieties. Error bars define 2σ confidence intervals. Representative experimental (c) and simulated (d) differential aMMDs at the end of each shearing experiment. Each differential aMMD was scaled to the same minimum value to facilitate comparisons. See Supplementary Figs. 25 and 23 for all simulated apparent and true MMDs. Distribution of polymer-bound T moiety per styrene, [Tpoly]/[styrene] as a function of the apparent chain mass at the end of each listed experiment (e), and the corresponding simulated distribution (f). Because larger chains contain more styrene moieties per chain, the approximately constant [Tpoly]/[styrene] vs. mass correlations at >200 kDa correspond to increasing numbers of T moieties per average chain: for example, an average 400 kDa chain with [Tpoly]/[styrene] = 3 × 10−3 carries 4.7 ± 0.4 T moieties (Supplementary Fig. 32).
