Intrinsic viscosity of polymer solutions: fresh ideas to an old problem

Intrinsic viscosity is one of the most fundamental properties of dilute polymer solutions; its study forms an integral part of the cornerstone of the modern macromolecular theory. However, a general theory applicable to any chain architectures and solvent conditions has remained elusive, due to the formidable challenges in the theoretical treatment of the long-range, many-body and accumulative hydrodynamic effects. Recently, Lijia An and coworkers at the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has developed a new approach that largely overcomes these challenges. Their new theory provides a simple and unified theoretical framework for describing the intrinsic viscosity of polymers with arbitrary architectures under any solvent conditions and forms the theoretical basis for inferring the polymer chain structure from intrinsic viscosity measurements. Comparisons with existing experimental data yield extensive, quantitative agreement.