EXPLORING THE DOMAIN VALIDITY OF THE EQUATIONS RELATING THE INTRINSIC-VISCOSITY TO THE MOLECULAR-WEIGHT BY USING THE CHARACTERISTIC-NUMBERS OF POLYMERS

Plotting log[eta] versus logM (Mark-Houwink-Sakurada equation) we observe a crossover region in which a continuous variation of the exponent of this equation takes place. This crossover region is delimited by two characteristic numbers : Nc (or Mc), the number of statistical segments (or the molecular weight) in the onset of excluded volume behavior and Nc'(or Mc') the number of statistical segments (or the molecular weight) in the onset of the complete excluded volume behavior. Relations are given in order to obtain these numbers. The Stockmayer-Fixman-Burchard equation is valid for the flexible and wormlike polymers in the molecular weight region which lies above the crossover region while the Dondos-Benoit equation is valid in the medium and low-molecular-weight region including the crossover region.