https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.N04112
A highly ramified @M03667@ in which essentially each @C01288@ is connected to each other @C01288@ and to the macroscopic phase boundary by many permanent paths through the macromolecule, the number of such paths increasing with the average number of intervening bonds; the paths must on the average be co-extensive with the macromolecule.
Notes:
- Usually, and in all systems that exhibit rubber elasticity, the number of distinct paths is very high, but, in most cases, some constitutional units exist which are connected by a single path only.
- If the permanent paths through the structure of a @NT07562@ are all formed by covalent bonds, the term covalent network may be used.
- The term @P04665@ may be used if the permanent paths through the structure of a @NT07562@ are not all formed by covalent bonds but, at least in part, by physical interactions, such that removal of the interactions leaves individual macromolecules or a macromolecule that is not a @NT07562@.