Multicomponent Diffusion in Polymeric Liquids

It is shown how the phase-space kinetic theory of polymeric liquid mixtures leads to a set of extended Maxwell-Stefan equations describing multicomponent diffusion. This expression reduces to standard results for dilute solutions and for undiluted polymers. The polymer molecules are modeled as flexible bead-spring structures. To obtain the Maxwell-Stefan equations, the usual expression for the hydrodynamic drag force on a bead, used in previous kinetic theories, must be replaced by a new expression that accounts explicitly for bead-bead interactions between different molecules.