Low-shear viscosity of nondilute polymer solutions from a generalized Kirkwood-Riseman model

摘要

The low shear viscosity #eta# of a nondilute polymer solution is calcualted from an extended Kirkood-Riseman model that includes hydrodynamic interactions between chains. Hydrodyanmic interaction tensors for chains in a weak shear field are obtained for interacting pairs and triols of chains. The model proposed here gives a general expansion for #eta#(c) to arbitrary order in polymer concentration c. Divergent integrals encountered in some prior calculations using Stokes-level hydrodynamics are avoided. The model confirms empirical demonstrations that the intrinsic viscosity [#eta3] is a good reducing variable for #eta#(c).