Unperturbed dimensions of polymers revisited through the blob theory: the viscometric expansion factor

Abstract

Plotting log([η]/M1/2) versus log(N/Nc) where [η] is the intrinsic viscosity of the macromolecular chain of molecular mass equal to M and N/Nc is the number of blobs of which this chain consists (N: the number of statistical segment of the chain and Nc: the number of statistical segment of one blob), we obtain the unperturbed dimensions parameter of the blob, Kθb. This graphical representation in this article is based on a modified, original equation of Han [6] based on the blob theory. The obtained value of Kθb for a given polymer, dissolved in a good solvent, is lower than the unperturbed dimensions parameter, Kθ, obtained for the same polymer in the Flory’s theta conditions. Having Kθb αη. With the obtained values of αηb we find αηb3/αs2αH ≈ 1, as predicted by Weill and des Cloizeauz [1], where using αη we obtain αη3/αs2αH ≈ 0.85 (αs and αH are the static and dynamical expansions factors).