Why is the flow behaviour or viscosity important in the case of polymer?

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SUMMARY

The flow behavior and viscosity of polymers are critical for understanding their structure and bonding, which directly impacts their processability into products such as plastics and elastomers. In a recent discussion, participants highlighted the significance of viscosity in determining molecular weight, particularly through experiments involving polystyrene dissolved in toluene. The relationship between viscosity coefficient (n) and molar mass (M) was established using the equation n = M^a, with 'a' approximately equal to 0.75. This research area remains vital for manipulating polymers for various applications.

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  • Understanding of polymer chemistry
  • Familiarity with viscosity measurement techniques
  • Knowledge of rheology principles
  • Basic mathematical skills for interpreting equations
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  • Explore polymer viscosity measurement methods
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  • Learn about rheological properties of different polymer types
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This discussion is beneficial for polymer chemists, materials scientists, and students in physical chemistry who are focused on the properties and applications of polymers.

cutepig
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Why is the flow behaviour or viscosity important in the case of polymer?

This question is given when we had lecture about flow behaviour, viscosity, and rheology.

Thanks a lot!
 
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Viscosity is an important characteristic of polymers because it gives an insight to the structure and in turn, the degree of bonding in the structure, and how well the structure is formed. Flow behaviour determines the processibility of the polymer into different products like plastics, elastomers etc It's atill an important research area as to how to manipulate polymers for various applications.

E.g. of such applications http://www.phy.bris.ac.uk/research/polymers/flow.html
 
Mr.cute, are you a student taking course MAT705 in Queen Mary College? I meet the same question in the exam.
 
Well, in a physical chemistry lab this semester we dissolved polystyrene in toluene and measured the viscosity, from which we were able to derive the molecular weight of the polymer from the relationship n = M^a (where n is the viscosity coefficient, M was the molar mass and a was a constant equal to about ~0.75 if I remember correctly. We measured the molecular weight to about 100,000 g/mol, which was pretty accurate.

As atomic blast suggested, the viscosity is influenced by how tightly "coiled" the molecule is - that is what the consant "a" is a measure of.
 

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