Flow Properties of Moderately Concentrated Solutions of Cellulose Acetate Polymer

Calculations [1] of rheological properties of polymeric solutions have usually been restricted to very dilute o r to very concentrated solutions. In either case, one starts with a model for the micro- structure. Between these two conceptual extremes lies the broad class of moderately concentrated solutions. To cover this region theoretically, two approaches have been used; 1) network theories focusing attention on entanglement junctions, and 2) single-molecule theories focusing attention on single molecules but including inter- molecular interactions. Williams, Wang, and Zimm introduced a double model; one for a particular macromolecule and another for solutions containing like molecules in which the chosen macro- molecule is suspended. This approach has turned out to be quite successful because spheres immersed in a suspension of like spheres behave as i f suspended in a Newtonian fluid, and the resulting ex- pression for viscosity is quite simple in form and qualitatively correct for moderate concentrations.