Effects of the polydispersity on the viscoelasticity of low molecular weight polymers

J.-C. Majesté , Ahmed Allal (1, 2) , J.-P. Montfort

1 PCP - Physico-chimie des polymères
2 IPREM - Institut des sciences analytiques et de physico-chimie pour l'environnement et les materiaux

The viscoelastic behavior of low molecular weight polymers exhibiting a fairly broad distribution has been deduced from the behavior of narrow samples by way of a linear law as a function of the density of the molecular weight distribution. Rheology of polydisperse linear polymers where the entire distribution of molecular weights is lower than 2 Me has been investigated using both binary mixtures and a broad sample of polystyrene. A decrease of the friction coefficient and of the viscosity compared to that of a narrow sample with the same Mw is observed. Therefore, the low components of broad samples play the role of plasticizers or lubricants which has been investigated in relation with the molecular weight distribution.

Domaines: Matière Condensée [cond-mat]

J.-C. Majesté, Ahmed Allal, J.-P. Montfort. Effects of the polydispersity on the viscoelasticity of low molecular weight polymers. Rheologica Acta, 2003, 42 (5), pp.477-482. ⟨10.1007/s00397-003-0302-2⟩. ⟨hal-01584332⟩