Structure and Mechanical Properties of a Porous Polymer Material via Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

We characterize, using molecular dynamics simulations, the structure and mechanical response of a porous glassy system, obtained via arrested phase separation of a model polymer melt. In the absence of external driving, coarsening dynamics, with power-law time dependence, controls the slow structural evolution, in agreement with what was reported for other phase-separating systems. The mechanical response was investigated in athermal quasi-static conditions.