Strukturviskosität von verdünnten Lösungen von Biopolymeren

Abstract

The importance of the rheological behaviour of solutions of macromolecules is briefly evaluated. The viscosity of the solutions depends on concentration, shear rate and time of shear, this relation being determined by the structure of the dissolved molecules. In dilute solutions shear dependence of viscosity is very frequently caused by the preferential orientation of anisotropic molecules. In such a case the particle dimensions can be calculated from the true limiting viscosity number, an anisotropy factor, the rotational diffusion constant and the effective particle density. These numbers can be derived from the flow curve, which has been extrapolated to zero concentration. It is necessary to measure the flow curve at shear gradients, which are sufficiently low to allow for an extrapolation to vanishing shear rate. By comparing the experimental flow curve with a choice of theoretical ones, the rotational diffusion constant and the anisotropy factor (axial ratio) can be found. From the limiting viscosity number and the axial ratio, the particle density can be calculated.