Table of Contents

Preface to Gomadingen.- On the lack of experimental evidence for certain structures in polymers.- Entanglements in rubbers.- Formation, structure and elasticity of model imperfect networks prepared by endlinking.- The dependence of the retardation spectrum width on the network chain length and on its distribution.- Meander model of polymer melts and networks.- Deuterium magnetic resonance on elongated networks: orientational order versus network structure.- Stress-strain behaviour of model networks in uniaxial tension and compression.- General deformation modes of a van der Waals network.- Dynamic shear compliance of swollen networks and its dependence on crosslink density.- Thermomechanics of polymer networks.- Polymer network structure as revealed by small angle neutron scattering.- Evolution of rheology during chemical gelation.- Orientation of macromolecules and elastic deformations in polymer melts. Influence of molecular structure on the reptation of molecules.- Nonlinear rheological properties of polymer melts and their prediction based on the relaxation time spectrum.- Transient networks by hydrogen bond interactions in polybutadiene-melts.- Multiaxial elongations of polyisobutylene and the predictions of several network theories.- Viscoelasticity and thermal equilibrium.- Dynamics of permanent and temporary networks: Small angle neutron scattering measurements and related remarks on the classical models of rubber deformation.- A Model of cooperative motions in dense polymer systems by means of closed dynamic loops.- Entanglements in semi-dilute solutions as revealed by elongational flow studies.- Surface properties of fillers and interactions with elastomers.- Filled van der Waals networks.- Influence of the filler on the reinforcing mechanism of styrene-butadiene rubbers.- Filler-matrix coupling in rubbers as revealed by heat conduction experiments.- Interrelation between the orientation of the polymer chains and the mesogenic groups in crosslinked liquid crystalline polymers.- Some principal problems in statistical mechanics of networks and their relationship to other topics in physics and materials science.