2004/08/09 by Henning Löwe, Peter Müller, Annette Zippelius · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Coagulation and Flocculation Studies #Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications #Material Dynamics and Properties #cond-mat.soft #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.1063/1.1813433
published as J. Chem. Phys. 122, 014905-1--8 (2005) · 9 pages, 2 figures
arxiv created 2004/08/09 · openalex publication_date 2004/12/13 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
In order to study rheological properties of gelling systems in dilute solution, we investigate the viscosity and the normal stresses in the Zimm model [B. H. Zimm, J. Chem. Phys. 24, 269 (1956)]. for randomly cross-linked monomers. The distribution of cluster topologies and sizes is assumed to be given either by Erdos-Renyi random graphs or three-dimensional bond percolation. Within this model the critical behavior of the viscosity and of the first normal stress coefficient is determined by the power-law scaling of their averages over clusters of a given size n with n. We investigate these scaling relations numerically and conclude that the scaling exponents are independent of the hydrodynamic interaction strength. The numerically determined exponents agree well with experimental data for branched polymers. However, we show that this traditional model of polymer physics is not able to yield a critical divergence at the gel point of the viscosity for a polydisperse dilute solution of gelation clusters. A generally accepted scaling relation for the Zimm exponent of the viscosity is thereby disproved.