Wall slip in polymer melts

We present a review of the recent characterizations of the flow behaviour of high-molecular-weight polymer melts, with special emphasis on situations in which slip at the wall appears. These characterizations are based on direct measurements of the local velocity of the fluid, in the immediate vicinity of the solid wall, through near-field velocimetry techniques. The results demonstrate the importance of polymer molecules anchored on the solid surface, either by strong adsorption or by chemical grafting, and entangled with the bulk polymer, to produce a strong friction at low shear rates and to lead to a shear rate threshold above which strong slip at the wall and low friction develop. The evolution of the shear rate threshold and of the flow characteristics (the length of the extrapolation of the velocity profile to zero, the critical slip velocity for the onset of strong slip, ...) with the molecular parameters of the system (the molecular weights of the bulk and surface chains, and the surface density of anchored chains) is analysed and compared with the predictions of recent theoretical models.