Rheology of polystyrene solutions around the coil overlapping concentration: A phenomenological description of stresses in simple shear flow

Linear viscoelasticity behavior is described with the sum of two terms for polystyrene solutions in tricresyl phosphate around the coil overlapping concentration (K. Osaki, T. Inoue, & T. Uematsu, J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 2001, 39, 211). One is a Rouse–Zimm (RZ) term represented by the Zimm theory with arbitrarily chosen values of the hydrodynamic interaction parameter and the longest relaxation time (τRZ). The other (the L term) consists of a relaxation mode with a single relaxation time (τL > τRZ) and a high‐frequency limiting modulus proportional to the square of the concentration. In this study, we describe the viscosity (η) and first normal stress coefficient (Ψ1) in steady shear with simple formulas. The stress due to the L term is assumed to be given by a Kaye, Bernstein, Kearsley, and Zapas (K‐BKZ) equation with the damping function h(γ) = (1 + 0.2γ2)−1/2, where γ is the magnitude of shear. Contributions to η and Ψ1 from the RZ term are derived from the RZ model, in which the relaxation time in steady flow is given by τst = τ 0RZ + (τRZ − τ 0RZ)/(1 + 0.35τRZ γ˙) instead of τRZ. Here, γ˙ is the rate of shear, and τ 0RZ is the τRZ value at the infinite dilution limit. η and Ψ1 at various concentrations for two polystyrene samples (with molecular weights of 2890 and 8420 kg mol−1) are well described with parameters derived from dynamic viscoelasticity. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 1038–1045, 2002